Have fun reading the short story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Or much else.
Kagome bent down, placing a bouquet of lilies next to the old wooden well. Her fingers traced the wood gently, playing over notches and grooves.
How many times had she sat on these ancient wooden lips, monstrous yellow backpack in tow, ready to face the next adventure?
Four years. Four years, she had jumped between the past and present, journeyed in ancient Japan with Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kilala, Inuyasha… Memories rushed, unbidden, into her mind. Inuyahsa's stubbornness. Sango's valor. Moriku's lechery. Kilala's loyalty. Shippo's bushy tail.
It had happened so suddenly. Four years of fighting, of questing for jewel shards, of epic battles, ending with one battle of biblical proportions. She could not recall clearly to details of the final battle with Naraku. It ended in a wish. That she knew.
'Let them be happy,' she had whispered, watching the horror of a dying Sango, clutched by an injured Miroku, watched by a pained Kilala, ignored by Inuyahsa, whose mental anguish at having Kikyo destroyed once and for all was too great for anything else to penetrate his mind. Shippou had sat beside her, looking at her as a stricken child does a mother, asking her if everything would be all right.
'Let them be safe. Let them be happy,' she had half sobbed to the jewel, now complete, in her hand.
Her next memory was of waking up in the well house, beside the old well, backpack and belongings scattered on the ground. No manner of trying could get her back to the past. She had been forced to accept, left only with the hope that her friends were safe. Were happy.
A tear ran down her cheek.
'How many times should I repeat myself?' a deep voice murmured in her ear. 'They–'
'–lived. And died. Happily,' Kagome finished, turning her head to capture his soft lips with hers. She felt them curve under her own lips, move to deepen the kiss. Kagome pulled away and laughed lightly.
'That was meant to be a reassuring peck. Those amber eyes of yours are shining with enough male satisfaction already.'
'One does not 'peck' this Sesshoumaru,' he growled, and turned her fully in his arms, giving her time only to squeak as his lips swooped down on hers in a kiss that left her breathless. His eyes positively glowed as he let her lips free. Her own narrowed as she playfully hit him on the shoulder.
'That's exactly what I mean. Pure male satisfaction.'
His mouth curved in amusement. Then straightened out again as his arms around her tightened.
'I do not wish for you to live in the past. The future needs you more.'
Here eyes softened, and she broke free from him to turn to stare at the well once more. Leaning back against him, she took his hands in her own, placing them over her swollen belly. They remained like that for a while, his arms around her, her hands resting atop his. The future, gazing back at the past.
'I live in the present. For the future. In memory of the past,' Kagome spoke quietly.
'Happily,' added Sesshoumaru.
'Blissfully,' agreed Kagome, a glowing smile appearing on her face.
Under their joined hands, the baby gave a kick, voicing its own agreement.
And I find myself, once again, at the time where I beg you to leave a review. Please do. It's a little as pressing the little button saying 'review', then typing something in the box that appears. Go on. Knock yourself out. But type something in that box first. (fear my 2 AM witty-ness)