The battle that decided what all of their futures would be had ended little over a year ago. The battle had been one between Naraku and the Inu-yasha gang, and a harder one they had never had before. For two years they had been chasing after him, for two years they had been getting stronger and stronger. And at last, the day had come when they defeated Naraku.

It had been a hard battle, and in truth if it hadn't been for Miroku's Wind Tunnel, Naraku would have escaped yet again. As Kagome aimed her arrow at Naraku, he had tried to escape, despite the horrible wounds that had been delivered to him by the Tetsusaiga. It was only Miroku's Wind Tunnel that kept him from running away, as when he was caught up in the fierce winds, he fell. This time, when the arrow hit him, he was completely destroyed. Every single part of Naraku was gone forever.

There had been many endings like this to their battles with Naraku, all of them simply disappointments. But when they saw Miroku's Wind Tunnel was gone, they started to believe it was true. Even more so when they found the completed Shikon Jewel, purified by Kagome's arrow. So, at long last, they had killed Naraku.

"But now what?" Kagome asked herself as she was riding on her bike towards the village. Every now and then she went back to her own time, but since she was 18 and nearly out of high school, her time in the present was growing less and less. This was not how she figured everything would go for her once she killed Naraku, but for some reason she could hardly stand to stay outside the Feudal Era.

Her friends had been noticing that they only saw Kagome perhaps once a week, never on weekends, and occasionally more often when there was a major test coming up. Automatically, they figured that it was her no-good-crazy-jealous-two-timing-jerk of a boyfriend rubbing off on her. Their questions about her disappearances were few and far apart, always noticing that she was gone more and more, and grew used to it eventually.

Inu-yasha was waiting for her, as usual, in a tree right outside the village. Also, he found himself thinking. Now we have the Shikon Jewel…what am I going to do with it? I could become a full demon, but…

He flashbacked to the last time he became full demon… he had nearly murdered an entire village, not to mention all of his friends, or so he had been told. He couldn't remember anything that had happened while he was a full demon. Was that…what he wanted to become? No, he really didn't.

I could become human, and stay with Kagome… He smiled a little as he thought about this, but then he wondered how would he protect her, for many demons were after the Shikon Jewel. And his brother still tried to fight him for the Tetsusaiga, which would become useless of he became human.

I guess I should stay half-demon… And yet again, he found himself thinking about his full-demon form. If his temper got out of control, or if his life was in danger he would become that again, though since Naraku died he figured it wouldn't be that much of a problem. Not to mention the fact that he would live much longer then her, and would have to watch her die.

"Wait a minute!" Inu-yasha exclaimed, sitting straight up. "Could the Shikon Jewel give Kagome the lifespan of a demon?" This was an exciting thought, and for a minute he didn't even hear the very girl he was thinking about shouting up at him.

"Hey Inu-yasha!" Kagome shouted up at him, not really hearing what he was talking about. Then his head peeked over the side and he jumped down.

"Hey Kagome." Inu-yasha said, in a tone that was unfamiliar to Kagome, at least from Inu-yasha. She was almost immediately suspicious, and when Inu-yasha ran ahead while Kagome continued to ride on her bike only deepened these suspicions.

When Inu-yasha reached the village, he ran over to Kaede and immediately asked about the Shikon Jewel. "Can the Jewel increase a mortal's life span? To let them live as long as a demon?"

Kaede chuckled, knowing almost immediately what he meant. "O' course. As long as Lady Kagome continues to keep the Jewel close to her, she will live as long as any demon."

Inu-yasha blushed and said, in a tone that wasn't quite angry, but bordering on it, "Who ever said I was talking about Kagome?"

He said this just as Kagome reached Kaede's home and she was even more suspicious, and nervous. Though it really wasn't much of a secret any more that they liked each other, Kagome was always worried that he would decide to go back to Kikyo. The fear was irrational either, and as she walked into the hut, she wondered what the two were talking about. Kaede had a knowing smile on, and Inu-yasha was blushing furiously.

"Hello Lady Kaede." Kagome said as she entered.

"Greetings Lady Kagome. Are you staying for long?" Kagome smiled, but shook her head.

"No, Inu-yasha and I are going to go over and see Sango and Miroku." Their two friends had kept in really good touch with them since the defeat of Naraku, but none of them had gotten to see each other since they got married. Now, however, they finally had time to visit them.

"In that case, have a safe journey. Stop by here on your way back." Inu-yasha 'feh'd', but Kagome said they would and they headed out.