This was written for a Sesskag contest~
I wrote this to go along with some art I did which you can see here: post/170859589187/i-was-worried-for-a-time-there-that-i-wouldnt
Time. It was something Kagome Higurashi did not have much of. At least, that was the impression she got each and every time she passed through the well to reach the past...her friends, and the man she'd begun to develop feelings for.
Serious feelings.
They certainly felt much more intense than they had back when she'd thought she had been in love with Inuyasha. While that had only been a few years prior, it felt like so much longer to the young time traveler.
"Do you have everything?" Familiar words, words that have been said countless times...yet somehow the genuine kindness never seemed to fade.
"I think so…" Kagome said softly as she hesitated in packing up the comically large yellow bag that was beginning to tear at the seams. She couldn't help but wonder when the day she'd have to replace it would come. Though at the rate things were going with the well...Kagome had a feeling that it would outlive her time traveling days.
A thought that made the priestess's throat tighten.
"Did you decide against giving him the chocolate?"
Kagome didn't have to look at her mother to know she was looking at the carefully wrapped homemade chocolates that sat atop Kagome's desk.
"I...I don't think it would be a good idea mom," she said honestly as she worried her lip in contemplation. "I dunno if I'm ready for rejection." Especially if that would be one of our last conversations, she mentally added grimly. "Besides, he's a dog demon...it might make him sick."
Kagome could hear her mother walking, and before she could really protest, the woman was standing in front of her with a warm smile on her lips and the bag of chocolates in hand. "But it might not," she said as she gently pressed the treat into Kagome's waiting hands. "More times than not, you need to take a chance in order for anything to actually happen, sweetie." Her mother then booped Kagome on the nose and laughed softly, "Here I thought that was a lesson you learned long ago!"
Kagome couldn't help but laugh along as she reluctantly packed the chocolates. "Yeah yeah, of course you're right."
"Of course," her mother repeated with a wink as she pulled Kagome in for a hug. "Now you be safe all right, dear? We will be eagerly awaiting your return."
"I love you, Mom," Kagome whispered into her mother's chest before pulling away and shouldering one of the yellow backpack's straps. "I can't say when I'll be back, but I'm going to try to make it sooner than last time."
The good-byes were quick and to the point, and soon...Kagome was leaping into the well. Right off the bat, she could tell something was wrong, the energy that the well gave off was different. It was unstable, dangerous. The priestess, for a moment, wondered if the bone-eaters well would consume her whole.
However, she did make it on the other side.
It didn't take long for her to figure that something was very wrong.
"Kagome!" Shippou called from above. "Are you down there?"
"Yes." Kagome tried to raise her voice, and was taken aback by how weak it sounded. Then...by how weak she was feeling.
"Inuyasha! Kagome is here, I told you!" Shippou shouted before poking his little head over the edge of the well so that he could peer down at the priestess. "Do you need help up, Kagome?" Though before the girl could even open her mouth to reply, a familiar blur of red was dropping towards her.
"Hey, Kagome," Inuyasha sniffed the air a few times before frowning and folding his arms inside his haori sleeves. "Something is strange about your scent. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Kagome gestured to her backpack. "Just take this and I can climb up the well myself."
Inuyasha nodded and did as she asked.
"There is ramen in here, right?!" Inuyasha shouted, and Kagome would bet her left lung that the guy was already rifling through the bag. Sure enough, when she made it to the top of the well, much of the bags contents were poured out across the plush green grass. It had been oddly warm that time of the year, in both eras. Nature seemed to be quite confused, considering the fact that there should be snow.
Her mother would say that spring was on its way early.
"Inuyasha! Be careful!" Kagome began to feel panic bubble up within her as her eyes searched over the haphazardly tossed about items before they landed on the bag of chocolates, and she sighed in relief as she scooped them up and quickly deduced that they had miraculously been left unharmed. "It's Valentine's Day, remember?" She chided. "I'm afraid I've mostly got sweets in here for you guys this time around."
"Oh yeah." Inuyasha scratched the back of his head as his face scrunched up, obviously trying to recall the meaning of Valentine's Day. "That's the day with the explosions in the sky, right?"
Kagome couldn't help but snicker at this, "No, that's the fourth of July. The two don't even sound similar, Inuyasha." While they didn't really celebrate the fourth of July in Japan, Kagome enjoyed telling her feudal friends of all the different types of days that are celebrated in the present.
The half-demon's cheeks flamed, and he scoffed, clearly embarrassed by his failed memory.
"Is everybody here?" Kagome finally asked as the weight of the bag in her hand reminded her that she had a purpose.
"Yeah! Well, I guess not." Shippou frowned. "Sesshoumaru said he had something to do and left yesterday."
"I tried to fight him on that," Inuyasha butted in with a clenched fist. "But he seemed pretty set on leaving." At Kagome's sullen expression, Inuyasha was quick to continue. "But he'll probably be back today! He said he'd be here for your return." Kagome sighed softly, though couldn't quite bring herself to get angry. Truthfully, the fact that Inuyasha had tried to stop his brother from leaving for her sake was enough to make her smile.
She remembered how completely against his brother and Kagome interacting he had been even a year prior.
"It's okay," Kagome said softly. "I'm sure whatever he left to do was important."
Shippou and Inuyasha exchanged a look before they got to work on returning everything to the yellow bag so that it would be easier to carry down to the village.
It was a nice day, one that was filled with shared laughter and next to no arguments. Save for the few times Inuyasha and Shippou fought over food. Though this only drew more laughter from the group as Inuyasha fell prey to one of Shippou's illusions.
The boy was still fairly small, though he was almost two full heads taller than when they had all first met. As he grew up, his proficiency certainly grew. Something which Inuyasha was very clearly displeased by.
It was well into the night when Sesshoumaru returned. Shippou and Rin were sleeping, and it appeared as though Sango was very close to falling asleep as well, considering how her head continued to bob along with her drooping eyelids. Inuyasha and Miroku were chatting next to the fire, though both of their heads snapped to the doorway when Sesshoumaru pushed aside the door quietly.
The demon had begun to mask his aura whenever entering the village due to the fact that he wasn't a huge fan of causing a scene whenever he arrived to visit with Rin or Kagome if she was there.
While this village was much more friendly towards demons who didn't threaten them, Sesshoumaru was a bit of a pill to swallow without even trying.
"Kagome," he said quietly, "come out here." It was an order, though Kagome knew by this point in their relationship that Sesshoumaru wasn't quite used to asking.
The young priestess stood up, careful to keep the chocolates out of sight as she approached the demon lord who held the straw door open for her, dropping it once she was through the threshold.
"I was worried you wouldn't get here in time," she said softly as they walked, listening to the sound of the gravel beneath their feet.
"I said I would be here, did I not?" Sesshoumaru questioned, his voice somewhat warmer than it was whenever speaking to anybody else, save for Rin of course. "What is it about today?" he then asked as they left the village. "You said it is an important day."
Kagome couldn't help but blush as the little bag in her hands seemed to gain ten or twenty pounds, and she swallowed nervously as she gripped Sesshoumaru's sleeve, calling for his attention. He paused in his movements and turned to look down at her with a slightly arched brow. "W-well…" Kagome began, and she could practically feel her convictions crumbling as she peered up at him.
Was it really fair for somebody to be so beautiful?
"That smell," Sesshoumaru said finally when it became clear that Kagome wasn't going to finish her sentence. "What is it you have with you?" This question caused Kagome to flinch and laugh nervously.
"I suppose it's pointless hiding anything from you, huh?" she asked as she pulled her hand from behind her back. "It's some homemade chocolate, I um...I made it for you." She laughed nervously and scratched her cheek. "It's called Honmei," she said as she held it out to him.
Unfortunately, however, this was when things took a turn for the worst.
The world began to spin, only Kagome was standing still. She dropped the chocolate and began to fall as well, though Sesshoumaru was quick and looped his arm around her, pressing her firmly against his body. "What is wrong?" he questioned. "Your scent…"
Kagome felt an intense throb of a headache began to make itself present, though this was certainly not the most worrisome symptom.
"You are disappearing," Sesshoumaru stated, his tone lifting a little to show the panic he was beginning to feel. "What is going on, Kagome?"
She loved it when he said her name.
"I don't know…" she whispered, though her voice was hardly audible. She wasn't entirely sure if even Sesshoumaru would have been able to pick up on it with his heightened sense of hearing. Was she dying? What a way to go.
Within mere moments, everything faded to black.
When she awakened, she was in her bed and in her own era. The headache was gone, though fear flashed through her all the same as she sat upright and looked around with wild eyes.
Slipping on her slippers, Kagome hurried down the stairs and bolted outside, towards the well house without so much as a glance in her mother's direction when she began to call her name.
She slammed the well house's door open and hurried to the well, though she knew without even touching it that there was absolutely no magic coming from it any longer. Despite this, she carefully climbed her way down...just to confirm her suspicions.
Sure enough, nothing happened, and Kagome's mother appeared at the lip of the well with concerned eyes. "Kagome, honey…" It was clear that the woman could guess what had happened. "Come on, I'll make you some breakfast. You were sleeping for a while."
Kagome was silent as she stood at the bottom of the well. She watched as her breath appeared before her in little white puffs. It was cold, damp...but that was it.
The bone-eaters well was no more. She would never see her friends again, and she would never get to properly confess her feelings for Sesshoumaru. If she had just done so sooner…
Angry tears pricked at the corners of the young woman's eyes, and she fell to her knees, sobs racking her body.
Despite how she had figured this would eventually be the case...it did not make the truth any easier for her to accept. She hadn't even gotten to say good-bye. Her heart was heavy when her mother finally managed to coax Kagome up with the promise of a warm blanket and hot chocolate.
Kagome cried for a long time. For days, even weeks. While her tears might have dried up after a while, her heart remained heavy.
Her mother was extremely understanding of this bout of depression that Kagome was going through.
Even a month later, the events of what had happened on Valentine's Day convinced the raven-haired girl that she was likely doomed to never find love.
Dressing in a red long-sleeved shirt and black leggings, Kagome decided that she would give the well one more chance. After all, what could it hurt? Kagome was already broken.
Upon seeing the puddles that had formed outside, Kagome donned her favorite grey rain boots before heading out.
Splashing through the puddles without a thought, Kagome sighed as she climbed the steps that lead to the well for what could be the final time. Each step seemed to stretch for a mile. She wasn't ready for the finalty that she knew was just through those doors.
Before she could even make it to the second step, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't need to do that."
The voice took Kagome completely off guard and she spun on the balls of her toes so quickly, she might have been mistaken as a ballerina. Too fast, she slipped on the damp wood and fell face first into the broad chest of a man she had never expected to see again in her lifetime.
Looking up, Kagome recognized him immediately. Even without his markings. He was still the most beautiful man that she had ever laid eyes on.
Sesshoumaru stood before her, in all of his white-clad glory. Though instead of his traditional clothing that she had grown so fond of...he wore a very expensive-looking suit. Kagome would be lying if she said she wasn't fond of that as well, though it still seemed very strange to see him in such an outfit.
"S-Sesshoumaru?" she asked with a slightly trembling lip.
"I've waited a long time for this moment, Kagome," he said, the warmth in his voice much more pronounced than it ever had been in the past. Then...she supposed that the man who stood before her right that moment was not the same man she had known five-hundred years in the past.
Five-hundred years, yet this Sesshoumaru didn't appear more than a couple years older if that. It was somewhat dizzying, and Kagome had to grip his arm to keep from falling over.
His arm.
Kagome blinked a couple times before her attention was on his left arm. She squeezed it a couple times before looking back up at the man who chuckled in response to her reaction. He actually chuckled.
"Demon medicine has improved quite a bit since the last time we met."
"Wait, so you mean demons…?" Kagome grasped for the words that she wanted. "There are demons here?" It was a stupid question—she realized it the moment the words left her mouth. Afterall, with Sesshoumaru standing before her...she already had her answer.
"Only the intelligent of us have survived to this point. You humans have become surprisingly formidable over the years. Though I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering how I had you as a bit of a sneak peek back then. But yes, we are still here."
Kagome wasn't sure why, but this fact made her feel good. The fact that even in her era...not all magic was gone.
"I have something that I want to show you." Without warning, Kagome was swept into Sesshoumaru's strong arms, and she could feel the prickle of his aura as it flared to life around him. Even then, she could tell he was still concealing it.
The two were engulfed by his powerful energy and shot into the air so quickly, Kagome thought for sure her stomach had been left behind.
"No one will see us," Sesshoumaru explained after a long moment, letting Kagome regain her bearings. "We are all but invisible traveling like this."
Kagome couldn't stop staring at his face. Her heart pounded against her chest so hard, she thought that it might crack a rib or something similarly ridiculous.
Soon, they were slowing, and she realized that they were touching land once more.
When she finally looked around, Something clicked.
She recognized this place.
"Wait…" Kagome said slowly as her eyes finally found Sesshoumaru's face again, "How is it possible?"
"Money makes things like preserving land simple," Sesshoumaru explained. "This is one of the places I made sure never changed." He seemed to consider something before his eyes found hers. "I understand now why that day was so special. I know what you were trying to tell me, Kagome. So I had this place prepared for this day." Kagome searched Sesshoumaru's vibrant golden eyes for a long moment, as though the answer to her unspoken question could be found there.
Though she realized it only a moment later.
"Today is...it's White Day…" she whispered, her throat beginning to tighten when Sesshoumaru nodded his head in confirmation.
"I realize it would have been better for me to go to you immediately, but I thought—" Sesshoumaru cut himself off when Kagome touched his face, her eyes filling with tears once more.
"This is perfect," she whispered softly. "I never thought I would ever see this place again."
It was one of her favorite hot springs. A place that she had showed Sesshoumaru once—she'd called it 'magical'. The fact that he had remembered was enough to make Kagome feel even more emotional than she already was.
"I quite enjoyed the Honmei Choco," Sesshoumaru said as he carefully placed Kagome down on her feet, a bit reluctant to let go completely. "I realize it's a bit late, but thank you."
Kagome couldn't hold back anymore. She threw her arms around Sesshoumaru's neck and pressed her lips to his. She sagged in relief when his arms wound their way around her and held her close, deepening the kiss.
When they finally parted, there was a light in Sesshoumaru's eyes that Kagome had never seen before as he wiped away a few of the remaining tears from off her cheeks. A fierce light. "I'm never going to let you go again," he whispered as he leaned down and kissed her once more.
Kagome giggled softly. "Well, you certainly aren't going to hear any complaints from me."
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