Prologue: When the well reopens five years after the events of the final battle, Kagome jumps through, leaving everything behind without a second thought, but will she get what her heart has ached for?
'It's storming again,' Kagome thought dryly, taking a sip of her tea as she looked out the window, then resumed typing on her laptop. This college paper wasn't going to write itself; neither were the other three she still had left to complete. Two years of this almost finished, two more to go. Her academics had improved greatly upon being able to actually study and get her homework done. There were no demons to fight now, just memories and longing.
Five years the well had been closed, and Kagome had eventually moved on with her life. Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi had all gone off to different colleges, and she rarely spoke to them; except Ayumi, who made sure to call at least once every couple of weeks.
Hojo had eventually stopped trying to court her; she had stopped accepting his advances and gifts. She wasn't interested, and spent most of her time studying or tending to the family shrine.
Her grandpa had passed away soon after her return from the fuedal era, and she had taken over all the rituals on top of her trying to get her degree in History.
She sighed, staring out the window once more as she took another sip. Lightning flashed, and a few moments later a loud bang of thunder followed. It fit her mood today.
Today was the anniversary of the day she had first travelled back to the fuedal era, nearly nine years prior.
She often wondered what her friends were up to.
Had shippo become a great fox demon like his father?
Did Miroku and Sango get married and have lots of kids?
Was Inuyasha okay?
Were any of them okay?
Kagome's brow wrinkled as her reiki flared, the energy crackling against her skin. The hairs on her arms and neck stood on end and vaguely through the foggy glass, she saw a blue light growing brighter.
-.-.-
Kagome didn't even hesitate to jump up from her chair and abandon the half finished essay waiting to be completed. She threw on an old yellow sweater over the black tanktop she was currently wearing, and opted to change her jeans for some thick, dark blue leggings. She slipped on her tennis shoes and then she ran down the stairs, her heart beating like a drum.
Tha-thump, tha-thump, ba-bump!
She could see the blue light through the door in the kitchen. The rain had lessened. The glass door slid open with a loud bang, her shoes slapping against the wet ground as she ran. She opened the wellhouse, and it glowed dully. Her whole body tingled, and she took one look back.
A tear fell down her cheek when she saw her mother standing in the open doorway, smiling.
'Go,' She mouthed.
Kagome didn't look back again, she just grabbed her bow from its place in the corner of the wellhouse along with her arrows, and jumped in the glowing light.
The feeling of falling through time hadn't changed. In fact, she welcomed the familiarity, and soon she was looking up at the gray sky of the past. It had actually worked.
"I'm home!" She whispered to herself.
To her delight, there was now a rope ladder leading up to the top, and she happily climbed up and onto the lip pf the well, sitting there for a moment and taking in the scenery. Even cloudy, it was as beautiful as she remembered. Then she hoisted herself over and promptly slipped and fell. Rubbing her backside, she grumbled something about still being too clumsy as she collected herself.
No sooner had she done so when an arrow zipped passed her head and stuck to the well with a lound 'THUNK'! She squealed with surprise, nearly falling again but she caught herself on the lip of the well.
Across the clearing stood a young girl, dark brown hair falling in waves around her shoulders. She wore traditional red priestess garbs that swayed as she notched another arrow.
That girl ooks familiar somehow...
"Rin?" Kagome called hesitantly, putting a hand up to hesitantly wave. "Rin is that you?"
The girl hesitated, squinting at her for a moment before her eyes went as wide as saucers and the arrow dropped. In fact she dropped everything as she ran towards the older woman.
"Kagome-Sama, is that you?!" Rin screeched, sliding to a stop in front of her, a giant smile on her face that slowly faded as she said breathlessl,. "Oh goodness it is, you've returned, and what a time, too.."
"What do you mean?" She blinked at her, blue eyes sparkling, and could help but to gush, "Oh, Rin, you've gotten so big!"
"Well I am fourteen now," She mumbled. "The others will want to see you though, I think. You will have to forgive them if they aren't completely excited, there's much happening that you haven't been here for.. But that's okay!" Her voice got higher noticing Kagome's sudden sullen expression. It wasn't her fault that the well had closed after Naraku's defeat.
Rin took her hand and they sped off, the younger girl grabbing her bow and arrows allong the way. Kagome stumbled along just behind her. Goodness the girl had grown up and gotten very fast.She vaguely wondered who was training her; Kaede had been getting too old for that long before she had fallen in the well and met her.
Kagome would soon find out. As they broke through the trees, the view of the village wasn't like she remembered at all. In fact there barely was a village. A few huts here and there, four at most, but everything else had been destroyed; their feet crunched on scorched earth and she let out a small gasp of surprise.
"I warned you it's a lot," Rin grimaced, slowing down as they reached the closest hut. She dropped Kagome's hand and made a shushing motion with her pointer finger over her lips. She slid inside and kagome could hear her talking to someone.
Kagome's reiki flared suddenly, in response to someone else's energy. She could feel a memory bubbling to the surface; she had felt this before, and she knew who was behind that door even as the door opened to reveal her.
"Kikyo-Sama..?"