Take Your Time
Author's Note: Hello, everyone! It's been a very, very long time since I have written a fanfiction. Probably over 10 years. And it's almost certain that any fanfictions that I wrote, prior to this one, are long gone despite the internet's ability to hold onto stuff forever. I probably disabled my account and deleted everything.
Anyway, since this is my first foray back into fanfiction I thought I would keep it short. The following is a little vignette that was somewhat inspired by music from Hamilton. It takes place right before the birth of Miroku and Sango's son. The well, as unrelenting as ever, keeps Kagome and her friends, her Inuyasha five hundred years apart. This trope has been done before but this is my attempt. Here goes nothing…
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
My love, take your time…
The little village hut was becoming far too cramped for Inuyasha's liking. The sun had just set, a beautiful array of orange and pink splayed across the sky, though even with its disappearance beneath the horizon, the air was hot, humid, and oppressive. Inuyasha's will to sit still was wearing thin with each passing moment, while his urge to run, to be free, was growing by the minute. He tried to tune out the noise around him and tried to force himself to breathe, relax. It was no good.
Miroku and Sango's twin daughters, Kata and Miyah, were in the midst of conspiring with each other to see who would be able to grab Inuyasha's ears first but their rapid, excited whispers and giggles carried over to where he was sitting against the far side of the hut. Shippo, who was sprawled out next to him, was busy admiring his most recent kitsune exam grades. He had just advanced another level and was trying to brag to Inuyasha about how one day he would be a strong, tough demon and would make Inuyasha pay for all of the pain he had suffered at his hands over the years. Miroku and Sango were cleaning up from dinner, the sounds of water sloshing and cups and plates clinking adding to the growing din. The husband and wife's voices were steadily getting louder as it had sounded like they were in the midst of an argument: Miroku wanted to make the journey to see Master Mushin but Sango was almost eight months pregnant. The idea of trekking across the countryside, even with Kirara carrying her and the girls, was not appealing.
Inuyasha tried to breathe again. Hopeful he would be able to calm his nerves, compel his energy to relax. The varying sounds assaulting his senses defeated his second attempt.
"No! I'm going to grab his ears. They're so soft," Kata sighed, then giggled. Her twin rolled her eyes.
"No way. I am. Uncle Doggy likes me more than you," Miyah bragged. Her tongue sticking out to drive her point home.
"I'm going to get you so good, Inuyasha! Remember the time you hit me for stealing your fish? And remember the time you threatened to hit me for defending Koga," Shippo reminisced childishly with a bright, vengeful gleam in his eye and sure victory in his voice.
"Miroku, please have pity on your poor wife," Sango pleaded, rubbing her swollen belly for a guilty effect. "I want to see Master Mushin as much as you do but this baby is taking a toll on my back and legs. The girls are too young to travel that far away, anyway. Wouldn't you be happier going without us slowing you down?" Her logic, and voice, sounded firm.
Miroku patiently waited for his wife to finish her argument. He released the breath he was holding and began to counter. "Sango, Master Mushin has not seen you, or the girls, since their birth. It would mean so much to him, to me, to visit him, you know, one last time…" In an effort to play on her sensitivities, he ruthlessly used the death card. Sango frowned.
"No! They're my ears!"
"No, I saw them first!"
"And remember when you let me almost get killed?"
"This baby might not wait another month. Did you think of that?"
"Master Mushin may not either. Did you think of that?"
Inuyasha's ears flicked left, right, up, down, frantically trying to avoid hearing everything at once to no avail. The hut grew hotter, the voices blending together to one loud roar, the air getting more oppressive, and Inuyasha's final nerve broke. "ENOUGH!" He bellowed, launching himself from the floor and out through the mat, the force of his exit causing it to sway violently. The remaining members of the hut ceased their voices and looked at each other, now silent- what's gotten into Inuyasha?
The sky outside had changed quickly. Now a dark blue with a wide expanse of stars and little wisps of clouds blocking a crescent moon. Inuyasha closed his eyes and took in the deep breath he was unable to take inside the hut. The air was still thick with humidity but he took the breath in anyway, slowly releasing as he relinquished to its calming force. What had gotten into Inuyasha? Opening his eyes and blowing away the last of the air, Inuyasha tensed then sprinted off down the path to the woods.
The night air instantly cooled him as Inuyasha ran past the quiet huts, the seemingly never-ending fields of rice; the entire village behind him in a blur. The energy he had stored sitting in Sango and Miroku's hut propelled him to go faster, farther.
He vaulted through the forest surrounding the village two, three times before deciding to make a quick turn through an open field of budding wildflowers. It was here that he stopped. Taking in the silence around him, he laid down in the meadow. Escaping the four-wall hut felt exhilarating. Getting away from the endless chatter was freeing. But he still felt trapped. Inuyasha tried to will himself to sit, to stay calm. A few strong deep breaths kept him grounded for a few more moments before a tingling sensation in his bones had him bouncing up again. He knew where he had to go.
Leaving behind the wildflowers, the moon, and stars, Inuyasha's legs took him right where he knew would feel his most calm.
The well still looked the same as it always did: overgrown vines ran in and out of its mouth, rooting themselves in the land around the wooden sides. Inuyasha planted himself beside the well and rested his head on the lip. He craned his neck to look down into its black depths, willing the eerie glow of time-travel to appear along with the one he missed most of all. It had been almost three years since the well cut her out of his life. Almost three years had brought him heartache, lonely days and lonelier nights. But a nagging suspicion pulled at him, much in the same way his Tessaiga pulsed the first time he wielded the mighty fang: their story was not over. Inuyasha sighed and closed his eyes when the blue light neglected to show itself. Turning his body away from the opening, he leaned his back against the side and finally, finally could breathe with an ease and tranquility that only being near, or as near to, Kagome could provide.
Inuyasha looked back up at the crescent moon and smiled. His first genuine smile in a long time. Their bond transcended time; it was destiny that they would meet and nothing would turn that asunder.
…I'll see you on the other side.
The End.