And Yet Another Adventure Begins!

This is something that I came up with on my own after getting the idea from a GW poster with some of the GW Pilots/Preventors standing concerned as the background of a city burns behind them.

I do not own Gundam Wing AC, nor do I own Inuyasha.

Thank you,

JoWashington

There were four men in her family's living room, and it was apparent that her family hadn't been home in as many months, which concerned Kagome as she'd been in the past finishing up the war against Naraku and his minions.

She was covered in blood and bandages, the most prolific being the one through her shoulder, where Naraku's tentacle had slammed through.

"What are you doing in my family's home?!" Kagome demanded. Three of them were brunette's, two had hair cropped close to their head not including their bangs, the other brunette had long brown hair secured in a braid that ended past his waist; the last of the four was a blonde, with short neat hair combed in the 1800s style that was favored with men, not including the sideburns. The four men had a battle hardened look to them, and she could see the wounds of war in their eyes, particularly the blonde.

"I invited them here…." Kagome whirled to meet the voice of yet another man; this one of Chinese descent, his hair was pulled back tightly to his head and despite his demeanor, Kagome decided instantly that she liked the look of him. "You are Kagome Higurashi, last surviving member of the Higurashi clan and heiress to the Sunset Shrine?"

Behind her, Kagome heard movement and while she made note of it, they like her, were warriors. But she was more focused on what he'd said: 'last surviving member of the Higurashi clan'; that could only mean that in these past several months, her family had died and she'd not known about it- caught up in the war against Naraku.

Still in battle-mode, albeit slightly, she answered offensively; she didn't want to get caught with her guard down. "Considering I called out 'I'm home!' as soon as I entered the house, that would be a….." Kagome let herself trail off, especially when she felt adroit hands on her wounded back. She had to stop herself from capturing the woman's hands and use one of the moves that Sango taught her, but she did, barely. As it was it merely looked to the others that she was stiffening from hands touching her wounded back; but these people were harder to fool than Hojo, and she knew that they knew this was more than what she was saying, doing and had currently experienced.

"How badly are you injured?" it was a woman; leaving Kagome to ask herself just how many people were in her family's home, "and before you lie to me, know that I am a Doctor and everyone here can see that you are still bleeding despite your first-aid."

Kagome relaxed her tightened muscles slightly, and she noticed the men in the room subtly relax as well, and taking not of that, Kagome turned to face the woman. She had honey-brown hair in two ringlet-braids that started just below her ears and ended mid-chest; she was in her early thirties, and like the men she had the same look in her eyes, but a kindness still presided over it all. But more than that, she hadn't known or even noticed another presence in her family home, making her wonder just how many people were currently there.

Kagome took a page out of Sesshoumaru's book; "The wounds I have can wait until after my questions are answered, and they will wait until my questions are answered to my satisfaction."

She turned back to the man who had invited all these people into her family home without the permission of herself or her family.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my family's home?"

The blonde was the one who tried to answer, but the Chinese man interrupted.

"I am Wufei Chang, and it was your mother who told me to be here for when you returned."

"How long ago was that, most of the family keepsakes are gone…" Kagome noted.

"Five months ago; shortly after you left, and after the incident that ended your immediate family's lives, some family relatives on your mother's side took the keepsakes you speak of;" he paused before he spoke again, apparently gathering his words. "Your mother, younger brother and grandfather passed away due to complications after an establishment they were in was bombed; I was first on the scene and your mother was still conscious…"

Kagome's eyes widened.

"Was the person brought to justice?"

There was no answer.

"Has this person who bombed the establishment my family was in, found?"

"Not yet;" Wufei answered. "We have some of the best-"

"Are you one of those best?" Kagome interrupted.

Wufei was taken aback; Kagome Higurashi was taking this rather logically. "I am."

Kagome nodded to herself, her fingers clenching the longbow that Wufei had just noticed.

"Very well, as soon as I am showered and my wounds have been taken care of to the satisfaction of the Doctor, I will be working with you in order to bring that person to justice."

"Miss Higurashi, I don't think-" Kagome turned to look at the blonde.

"I need to do this, I cannot stand aside and let someone who killed my family and more than likely others not be brought to justice. I will not seek revenge, but I will not allow myself to not be involved; either you allow me to assist in the investigation, or I go out on my-own and do it myself, bringing that person who slew innocents either randomly or not so randomly to my form of justice."

"There is another reason why I'm here…" Wufei said. "Your mother left a video for you…"

Kagome swallowed harshly. "What is the reason why you're here…?" She asked.

"Your mother requested that I become your husband."

The other Gundam pilots and the Doctor waited for Kagome to explode from Wufei's almost tactless answer.

Kagome blanched, and then coming back to herself, nodded slowly. "I think I'd like to see that video now…"

As soon as she'd had her shower, assisted by the Doctor, she tended to Kagome's battle wounds, and Kagome watched the video left to her from her family. It wasn't the typical last-moment's-alive video that she expected, instead, she saw her family, battered, bruised and bare moments from reaching heaven demanding answers from Wufei while in a ward of the hospital. Apparently, he'd made quite the first impression, and first impressions in her family were key; especially when that was what decided arranged marriages in the Higurashi household.

Like anyone who loses a close family member or members, Kagome's emotions were high as she witnessed her mother, younger brother and grandfather telling Wufei what to expect of her for their marriage; all from their hospital beds, with IVs and breathing apparatus as well as wires and machines practically surrounding them. Kagome noted that there were several medical personnel in the room with her family and Wufei Chang, her soon-to-be husband.

Souta told Wufei point blank, that he'd been hoping for a cool brother-in-law that could save his sister when she needed it and totally be awesome at whatever his brother-in-law put his mind to- when Wufei told them that he used to be a Gundam pilot and he was currently a Preventor, the Hero-worship got cranked up to an Eight. Apparently, since he couldn't fell an army with a single swipe of his sword, that was the best he could get, but he was infinitely better than the Hojo-guy that kept sniffing around Kagome in hopes that she would notice him, Hojo apparently only ranked a One.

Kagome smirked at that Inuyasha was still Number One for Souta… Inuyasha had always ranked either a High-Nine, or a Ten.

Grandpa explained their family tradition and hoped that Wufei would continue it with the family he would create with Kagome. Wufei readily agreed and then was given Grandpa's blessing to marry Kagome.

Kagome swallowed hard, and let out a quick breath to get hold of her emotions, harshly blinked back tears, and cleared her throat.

Kagome's mother was filled with sage advice for the former Gundam pilot and for Kagome as well, this was a video that was meant to be kept. Kagome's mother explained that with her request at the bomb-site for him not leave her daughter alone, he'd also have to keep the shrine exactly as it was, household renovations were fine, but the shrine was to be maintained for its history. There were other things in there, lawyers and whatnot, but she told Wufei that as soon as Kagome came back, and was informed of the family's choice of her husband that Kagome would agree and help in whatever manner she could and stretch herself beyond her limitations, constantly overreaching; That especially she made Wufei promise to keep Kagome safe if not from others, then to protect Kagome from herself.

The video was fifty minutes long and Kagome was grateful for even being given this. Her family passed within minutes of one another in the hospital loaded with pain-meds so that their passing was relatively painless.

The rest of the week passed by rather quickly for Kagome as she ever so slowly healed from her wounds. At times like these she really missed- Kagome stopped herself; her seedlings!

As quickly as she was able she clambered outside, past the newest guest, Zechs, and out to the well where she'd dropped her pack as soon as she'd landed. Zechs had followed her, and although none of her guests or her soon-to-be husband knew about her dealings in Feudal Japan, they were very willing to help; when Zechs saw her slowly climbing into the well, he grabbed her wrist halting her descent.

"What are you doing?"

Startled, Kagome looked at him before answering; "My bag's at the bottom of the well- I have seedlings in there and a salve that forces the body to heal faster inside one of the pockets… I was just trying to get it."

"Nice try…" Zechs said as he coerced her into getting out of the well, "but I've seen your wounds and I know that you're stressing them even climbing down, let alone how you'll climb back up with what looks to weigh eighty-plus pounds on your back pressing on your wounds…"

He set her on one of the steps that led down toward the well. "I'll get the bag, you rest." With that, he very neatly jumped into the well; she heard him grunt as he shouldered her trusty yellow backpack and saw him slowly climb back out of the well using the ladder. He paused as he reached the top of the well. "I was right; there was no way that you would have been able to climb back out of the well, let alone with this monstrosity on your back!" He gave her a winsome grin and clambered the rest of the way out of the well. "Where do you want it?" He asked her as she led the way out of the well-house.

"I've got just the place…" Kagome said as she led the way around the house and into the back area of the property. There they met yet another guest on the property: Noin, who was tending Kagome's herb garden. She had arrived at the same time with Zechs and they had been introduced just yesterday.

"Oh, Kagome…! I hope you don't mind-" Noin said startled as she looked up at the still injured teen. "I saw your garden and it reminded me of my Great Aunt's…" Noin had dirt covering her hands, beneath her nails and had a smudge on her left temple.

"I don't mind at all, in fact Zechs here was helping me so I can add to it…" Kagome paused as she took in what Noin was doing. "But you've removed some of my herbs as well as the weeds…"

Noin looked embarrassed and started planting the weeds again. Shaking her head, Kagome stopped her and pointed out which was what and what went where. Once that was done, she turned to Zechs who had unpacked the backpack and was startled to see many different varieties of seedlings packed in various small potteries that were extremely old, also what looked to be very expensive antique weaponry and museum quality priceless artifacts, as well as a few of her salve jars that she'd helped Kaede mix. All of these were why her bag weighed as much as it did.

But the real question Zechs had for Kagome to answer later was: Why she used such priceless pieces of history to transfer seedlings when she could have just used a plastic crate… That question would not be answered, at least for quite some time; until he and the others including her future husband, Wufei Chang, earned her trust and gained its equivalent in return.

Kagome began explaining what the seedlings were and what they did as she and Noin removed them from the pottery, and planted them, fortunately the weather hadn't been too hot, or the seedlings would have died. As it was they were merely wilted waiting to be planted and watered.

It took the three of them, as Kagome had cajoled Zechs to join in, just under an hour to plant all the seedlings correctly; long enough for Wufei to return from his shift with the local Preventor branch and find her missing.

Wufei had just come back from the Tokyo branch of the Preventor's where he had just had a vid-phone conference with Lady Une, the Head of the Preventor's. He gave her his verbal report as he had already sent his written report via email; he also informed her that he would be staying in Tokyo to marry his fiancé, and nurse her back to health. As Une already knew whom his fiancé was, she nodded but before she allowed Wufei to disconnect, she asked him:

"How is Higurashi Kagome doing?" Lady Une asked.

"She is healing…" He paused for just a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke again. "She wishes to work with me to bring her family to justice…"

"Did your fiancée tell you what happened for her to get her wounds?"

As a Preventor and a Doctor, Sally Po had sent in a report as well; no doubt that the others did as well.

"She did not, I hope that she will tell me after we are married and I gain her trust…"

"I see." Une nodded, "I will grant you and your fiancée two weeks for honeymoon and then together you will bring the bomber to justice before he sets Tokyo ablaze…"

"Understood;" Wufei answered and signed off.

So here he was back on his fiancée's family shrine and he went inside to find her missing, quickly he darted out the back door to find Kagome planting seedlings with the Lightning Count, Zechs Marquis and Preventor Water, Noin. One of which looked up at his appearance, so he decided to make himself known;

"Kagome, are you well?"

Having survived in the past, Kagome could hear the unspoken words easily, even if others could not- it was an archaic code, and not one that others not versed in ancient lore and the arts it represented understood, leaving room for large misunderstandings. (What Wufei actually 'said' was: I looked for you and once I discerned you were missing, I was considerably concerned and immediately came looking for you.)

"The garden needed tending." (Code for: I needed some fresh air, but I knew to stay close.)

"Finish soon and return to your room;" (Code for: You need to have your wounds redressed; Come inside and I'll dress them for you.)

Kagome nodded and turned to look back at Noin and Zechs; both of whom had extremely surprised looks on their faces.

"This is yours?" Wufei asked, holding up her backpack; Zechs had repacked its contents after extracting the seedlings and salve, but repacked the used pottery that had held the seedlings. He would tell Preventor Shenlong about the priceless pieces of History that Kagome had packed in it. Wufei found the bag to be surprisingly heavy, but at their small conversation, there must be something of historic interest in her bag for Kagome to be so well-versed in traditional speak.

Kagome sent a soft-smiling glance at the two Preventor's and stood slowly to not aggravate her wounds.

Wufei nodded, and turned and entered the house through the open back door, Kagome followed him soon after.

Instead of escorting her upstairs and to her own room, Wufei took her into the room that used to be her father's study, which was in actuality the Master bedroom of the house, her mother not having the heart to stay in the room that she'd shared with Kagome's father before his untimely passing.

The room's contents had been moved around; the bed had been moved, one side touched the wall with the window and the other side faced the door, the bathroom was perpendicular to the foot of the bed. There was a large headboard that was a partial bookcase and had two lamps resting on the slight shelf just above it. On the headboard-bookcase was a sword stand, a sword, presumably Wufei's rested in its sheath on it. There were other changes, but Kagome didn't dwell on them as Wufei seated her on the edge of the bed and aided in unbuttoning her top to redress her wounds.

Kagome stopped him from applying the ointment that Dr. Po had given her for her recovery, and instead asked him to apply the salve that was in her bag instead; Wufei complied, but not before smelling the salve himself.

"Honey, also the European herbs: Comfrey, Goldenseal, Propolis and Picrorhiza and Sorrel;" Kagome explained. "After applying it to the wounds, I need to drink an infusion of verbena, chamomile, mint and willow-bark."

At his questioning look Kagome flushed slightly. "I heal faster with natural remedies than I do with man-made ones…"

"When will you tell me what got you so injured?" Wufei asked in a rare showing of tenderness.

"I will tell you my fantastical tale of my past when you agree to tell me of your fantastical tale of yours and do so after I have finished…"

Wufei flinched; but it was only to be expected.

"I don't expect you to be ready now or even five months from now; but know that I'll be ready to tell you only in exchange for when you are ready to tell me…"

Wufei didn't know what to do; this woman was everything all the other women weren't and she wasn't everything the other women were… She, Kagome, was not weak; she listened, considered and then gave her opinion. Spending these last several days with her had proved that to him, spending the last cherished moments with her only close family before they passed was something that had given him insight on his soon-to-be wife. And only now, in this moment did he feel this need:

In a smooth gesture, Wufei placed his hand at the base of her skull and kissed her on her lips; tenderly, thoughtfully and then he pulled away. They spent a slight moment staring into one another's eyes before they glanced away, scant blush highlighting Wufei's cheekbones, while a full-on flush accentuated Kagome's blue-brown eyes, as she focused on her knees.

Wufei quickly finished wrapping Kagome's bandages and helped her back into her button-up shirt. When he helped her to her feet, Kagome asked him about the bed, and why it wasn't positioned in the middle of the room.

Wufei's answer caused her flush to heighten in intensity. "When you join me to sleep in this bed as my wife, I want to be able to protect you; this way once we are married and you share this bed with me, should someone break in to hurt one or both of us, I can protect you. You can get out of the window without worrying about getting caught in the struggle as you would, should you make for the bedroom door."

It was a longer answer than Kagome'd thought she'd receive from the recalcitrant yet honorable Preventor, her soon-to-be husband, but she wasn't complaining.

"I have spoken to Lady Une, the Head of the Preventor's and she has agreed to your conditions and you will be allowed to assist me in bringing to justice the bomber that killed your family and the other victims as well…"

"When can we start?"

Wufei smirked slightly, Kagome was eager to get started on bringing the bomber to justice, if not more so than he already was.

"Lady Une has kindly allowed us two weeks for our Honeymoon as soon as we are married and then we are officially the lead Preventor's on the case."

Kagome was ecstatic about the latter part of the sentence, and she was pleasantly thrilled about the first part. "When will our marriage be?" She asked.

Wufei mentally compared Meilin to Kagome until he realized there was really no comparison to be made. He and Meilin had known each other for weeks if not months before their marriage (and even then they'd barely tolerated one another), but even before they had truly gotten to know one another, the L5 colony had made the decision to sacrifice itself rather than let OZ control either the colony or its citizens. With Kagome, he'd barely known her for a week before he knew that she was the one he wanted to spend his life with and gladly. There was just something about his soon-to-be bride that made it easy to know and love her.

"Our wedding license has already been approved; all that we need is for our wedding to be officiated and blessed before we head off on our Honeymoon."

It was an interesting sentence for Wufei to state. Never before had he spoken this courteously to a woman and with anticipation. Also, never before had he spoken of a "Honeymoon" without snark and sarcasm.

Kagome shook her head; "I wouldn't feel right enjoying myself while my family's killer is on the loose. If it's alright- I'd much rather bring him to justice before we go off and enjoy marital-bliss."

Wufei raised an eyebrow and then nodded; this woman, Kagome, thought the same way he did, with honor, and it was something he deeply appreciated.

"Per your grandfather's wishes, and for my honor, we need to marry if I am to reside in this house."

Kagome nodded. "I understand; there's another shrine nearby, a close friend of my grandfather's is its keeper and Shrine Miko."

"Will she bless the ceremony?"

"She will and her husband will officiate." Kagome said without a doubt.

"Who are they?" To Wufei's question, Kagome quickly rattled off two names as well as their phone number and soon he was on the phone speaking with them. He hung up around three minutes later, and turned to speak with Kagome. "They said they have tomorrow free- and that you should prepare your rights…"

"I hope you can find your traditional wear, because that's what's expected…" Kagome said, a slight smirk gracing her features.

"It's hung up in the closet;" Wufei nodded to the opposite wall.

"Good, then tomorrow, we will perform the three-three-nine ceremony in front of your friends and allies as witnesses." Kagome said with a nod. Then feeling brave, she suddenly leaned forward and stole a kiss before grabbing her backpack and made quick tracks to her bedroom. Oh, she wouldn't be able to call it that after tomorrow; Kagome then decided to call it her study/last-ditch guestroom.

She was glad she gave the excuse she did about healing better with natural remedies, which was partially true; the other portion of her healing 'better' was due to her natural Miko abilities that hadn't waned since her excursion into the past. Focusing her powers on her worst wounds: Kagome encouraged the hole in her shoulder to re-build muscle and tendons; not a lot, just enough to get a head-start. Still, how was she going to explain to an ex-Gundam Pilot, and current Preventor (not to mention his comrades, best-friends/allies) just why she has so many scars (because it was only a matter of time till they found out –if they already didn't know from having to bandage her other wounds from the final battle against Naraku, which she still had to explain) and then there was the matter of the ancient memorabilia that her friends and allies had gifted her with soon after the battle, but before the wish on the Shikon no Tama…

How was she going to explain it all? Her soon to be husband was the least skeptic of the group, Quatre being the most skeptic- who knew?- In this day and age in the time of wars with gargantuan metallic war-machines that decimated cities and leveled battalions of other machines and men. She'd just come from a place where magic, myth and legend reigned supreme…

That brought to mind the promise she'd made to the others: 'If I can return, I will- but if it turns out I can't, will you find a way to contact me?' She'd asked this of Shippo, Sesshoumaru, and Kouga -Kouga and Shippo had agreed without reservation, Sesshoumaru had taken more supplication. If there was anyone who would have survived the Eve Wars and the only bloodless war, that Mariemeia Kushrenada had heralded, then it was Sesshoumaru and hopefully Shippo and Kouga, but Sesshoumaru definitely.

Kagome immediately logged onto her computer and letting her instincts guide her, pulled up on the Ethernet, two pages; one where people were looking for history; and the other (which honestly didn't make sense to her) where people re-enacted the past; this quarterly's re-enactment was of a fictional battle between good and evil based in Sengoku Jidai. Kagome posted a request to join both site's through their moderators, as ShikonMiko3 (she was technically the third Miko, the first being Midoriko, the second being Kikyo and then… her).

She was granted access almost immediately, if four hours later was immediately. The first was from the site where people were looking for history, specifically historic artifacts- one person in particular was looking for a chain-sickle, which Kagome did have (a gift from brother and sister for helping set Kohaku free from Naraku) but wasn't willing to give up; and the other was from the re-enactment site where it was requested that if she join, she'd have to wear an exceedingly short green skirt and a haori patterned only on the hems of the sleeves and the collar and lapels, if she did and be quite willing to be thrown around. She smirked, the only ones who knew those specific things about what she had and what she wore and such, were those from her past- but how was she going to contact any of them when her every move was going to be watched?

The answer was simple: she wrote out a letter by hand to accompany her lack-luster resume as well as a shred of her shredded and completely decimated old middle-school uniform. Finding some stamps in her desk drawer, Kagome placed everything in two manila envelopes and after writing down the actual addresses on the envelope faces, walked to the mailbox at the foot of the shrine stairs and waited another ten minutes (their postman was very prompt) to gather the rest of the mail before tramping up the 549 stairs and into the kitchen where she needed to prepare dinner.

That's it for now, I had to get this out, my muse has recently been working overtime!

Hope you enjoyed!

JoWashington