Title: The Waiting Game
Rating: K
Characters: Inuyasha/Kagome
A/N: Companion piece to Happily Ever After. Enjoy.
Whenever she left to go home, you would always sit in front of the well. Waiting for her familiar scent to reach your nose, for the sound of her heartbeat to reach your ears. You would sit there vigilantly, not moving once to eat or to sleep, hell the only time you did move was to go to the bathroom. You would sit there like a statue –ears perked, back straight –waiting and watching. Everything was put on hold until she came back. Sometimes your friends would come to keep you company, other times they came to tell you it was unhealthy to just sit there, doing nothing. They would argue with you, telling you that she would come back eventually and that you need not to worry. But you wouldn't listen to them; you had to be there when she returned. You had to be there to make sure that nothing happened to her –to protect her.
So you would sit there -waiting and watching -wondering what was taking her so long. Sometimes you would jump in there after her, literally having to drag her back, only to be sat into oblivion –she would always get mad when you did that. You never knew why she wanted to go back there. Here was so much better. The air was cleaner, it wasn't as crowded and it wasn't as loud as her time. You would tell her this but she would just smile and say that she was used to it.
'Besides, it's my home. I can't just abandon it forever,' she would explain to you patiently.
You would frown when she said this. Here was her home too, why couldn't she just stay with you forever? Of course you understood why she went back, she couldn't just leave her family behind, even if it hurt you every time she disappeared into the depths of the well.
But she would always come back to you. No matter how long it took her or whatever the reason why she left, she would always return with a huge smile on her face. And that was what reassured you the most. She would always come back, no matter how long the wait she would always return to you.
That was why when she asked you if she could return home for the day, you had no complaints. 'I'll come back tomorrow, I just need to get a few more supplies,' she said while hitching her bag on her back.
'Promise?'
She smiled. 'I promise.'
You watched as she swung her legs over the well, and with one last look over her shoulder she jumped in; vanishing in a swirl of blue light before your eyes. You took your spot in front of the well, waiting for her to return the next day.
But she never did.
Oh well, she probably needs more time, you told yourself. She would come back, she always did.
But then the next day passed, and then the next, and then the next, until finally a week went by and yet she still hadn't returned. You were going to jump in there after her, but before you had the chance Miroku stopped you, saying that you didn't need to worry, that she'd be back soon.
Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and months turned to years. She never did come back. But you waited, you waited there patiently for her, never straying from your spot. You tried getting through once, only to find your way blocked. So you tried digging your way through until your hands began to bleed and you only stopped when your hands bled so bad that you weren't able to move them for weeks. Your friends began to worry about you, urging you to move on, telling you that she wasn't coming back, that there was no point in waiting for her anymore. But you wouldn't move. You wouldn't move until her familiar scent reached your nose and the sound of her heartbeat reached your ears.
And you sit there, to this very day you still wait for her –back against the well, arms folded neatly across your chest, ears perked listening closely. Even if it takes for an eternity for her to come back, you'll sit there, in front of the well, waiting for her. She'll come back, she always does. You're friends ask you why though? Why wait for someone who will never come back? Why do something when you know that it'll all end up in vain? Why do you have hope when there seems to be none left? And you would just look at them, a defiant look in your eyes, arms crossed, back straight and ears perked.
'Because…she promised.'