Inuyasha:

All the Years

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Story and OCs © Me

Summary- Kagome looks back on how she and Inuyasha first met.

She walked through the sun-spotted forest, passed the Bone-Eater's Well and the old rotted signs and- just momentarily- stumbled over a root that was sticking out of the ground. It seemed grace was still something she needed to work on. Despite that, she smiles and approaches the very spot she had been searching for: the Sacred Tree.

She smiles as she draws nearer and quietly reaches her hand up to the trunk...her fingers tracing the scar in the center. She chuckled to herself as she stared at it with a look of nostalgia.

All those years...and still, to her, it almost felt like yesterday when she met the half-demon boy who would become her husband. She could still remember finding him here, bound by an arrow in a 50-year-slumber. She could still see his peaceful face...his body wrapped in roots and vines...the arrow that still pierced his chest.

Looking back, she realized that she never figured her life would turn out this way. She remembered how she always used to scramble, back and forth between the dimensions of time and space, always trying to focus on her schoolwork...but somewhere along the way, school stopped mattering to her. Instead, she found herself being drawn to this world, more...or rather...the one who was in it.

She could still remember the days they used to butt heads with one another. Every little argument they seemed to have, how she would use a certain command to set him straight (even if it worked only temporarily), followed by the feelings of guilt she would get whenever he crossed her mind. Then there would be the apologies and going back and forth saying whose fault it was and whatnot. Before they knew it, they'd start laughing and smiling.

With each passing day they spent, the loneliness and bitterness that he held in his heart melted away and opened up again to her. He smiled more often...he laughed more often. They made friends together and shared that happiness with them. He learned from her...just as she learned from him.

Even the sad times were something she'd reminisce. Those three years they spent separated from each other...the sadness and loneliness they brought. She had almost given up the thought of seeing him again...but she couldn't. Fate wouldn't let her. She could still remember the tears in her eyes...the joy and relief she felt when she finally saw his face, again.

"Mommy?"

Kagome glanced down at Yamako, who clung to her hakama and blinked at her with his dual-colored eyes: the right one a chocolate brown like hers and the left one a golden yellow like his father's. His right ear was pricked up while his left ear remained floppy due to a lack of cartilage. She smiled before she glanced back at her infant daughter, her hair as black as coal, just like hers, with two floppy little ears on top of her head, fast asleep while she was strapped to her back.

"Hey, Mom!"

"Hmm?" Kagome hummed as she glanced back and saw Ichiro, who panted as he ran up to her...with Inuyasha calmly walking behind him.

"Dad's home!" Ichiro exclaimed while Inuyasha walked past him and approached his wife, who smiled at him as he looked down at her, gently cupping her cheek in his hand with a warm smile of his own.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey to you, too," Kagome said.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" asked Inuyasha.

"Nothing," Kagome replied. "Just...thinking back on old times."

Inuyasha's eyes softened as he ran his clawed fingers through Kagome's raven locks, causing her cheeks to flush bright pink. Of course, not one to be ignored, Yamako went up and tugged on his father's pants, next.

"Dada..." he cooed, causing Inuyasha to chuckle as he picked him up.

"Come here, Yama," he said before he kissed his cheek, causing him to squeal and giggle, happily, which caused Kagome to laugh as she went up and hooked her arm around Inuyasha's elbow.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go home so I can get dinner started."

"Sounds good to me," said Inuyasha.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Ichiro agreed as he walked alongside his parents. As they headed for home, Kagome glanced at Inuyasha before she looked to the path ahead.

"What's up?" Inuyasha asked.

"Huh?" Kagome muttered.

"You squeezed my arm a little," said Inuyasha.

Kagome was about to argue that she didn't, but then she sighed a defeated smile on her face.

"Nothing gets past you, huh?" she asked before her smile fell and she looked up at her husband. "Inuyasha...what would you do if...if I never came back here?"

Inuyasha blinked at her before he exhaled through his nose.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "...I'd wait for you."

Kagome's eyes went wide while Ichiro stared up at his father.

"I'd wait for you, forever," the half-demon said, "until I found you again."

"...Inuyasha...!" Kagome whispered as she felt her eyes well up, causing Inuyasha to chuckle.

"Come on, don't cry," he said as he wiped her tears away. "You're here, now."

"...Yes," Kagome replied. "I'm here...where I belong."

Inuyasha smiled...before he kissed his wife on the lips, causing her to moan pleasantly in his mouth.

"Eww~!" Ichiro groaned in disgust. "Gross!"

Kagome and Inuyasha both looked at each other before they both smirked.

"Gross, huh?" she asked as she knelt down in front of Ichiro, placing both hands on his shoulders. "Well, pucker up, sweetie!" She then planted a big kiss on his cheek.

"Oh, yuck!" Ichiro cried. "Mom, cut it out! Lemme go!"

Inuyasha could only laugh as he held Yamako, who squealed happily in his father's arms while Sanka remained asleep on her mother's back, and Kagome continued to smother her oldest son's face with kisses, despite his protests.

Here she was...married to the half-demon she loved so dearly as the mother of his three children. Even after all the years that had gone by...she wouldn't trade it for anything.

THE END

Short but simple. I got inspiration for this when I saw one of LenBaborza's asks on Tumblr.

Review, please!