You'll Be in My Heart
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Tarzan or anything else. And if you don't like the ideas I've presented her, please, flame me! I've only ever had one flame before, so it'll be a learning experience for me!
Rating: PG, there's nothing bad here. Just fluff.
Summary: Um… the plot is so simple I can't think of one without giving away the whole plot. It's a song fic for 'You'll Be in My Heart'. What else do you expect at midnight? (I'm missing the repeats of Inuyasha because they were SOOOOO fluffy I wanna tape them but no! My roomies wanna watch my tv… oh well. I love them.)
~*~
"What do you mean you're going to seal up the well?" Kagome demanded, her hands on her hips. Everyone had already said their goodbyes to the young archer, and had left, expecting that Inuyasha and she might finally decide to admit their feelings to each other, but Inuyasha's direct comment of 'I'm sealing up the well' had put a stop to that idea soon enough.
"I mean I'm going to seal up the well. The last thing I need is for a bunch of demons to go through the well to get to the jewel." He huffed, looking almost sulky.
Kagome's eyes widened, and she felt ready to yell for him to sit. "What are you saying, Inuyasha? There are demons in that world too! Remember the mask? What happens if I need your help again?"
"Hey, you were doing a fine job running from the mask, and you were the one who saved Satoru's little sister from getting sucked into hell!" he snapped, but his voice as angry, just passionate. His face softened. "Kaede also thinks this is the right thing to do. Everything's going to work out, Kagome, you just have to trust me."
She felt like her heart was breaking. Somehow, Kagome knew that Inuyasha wasn't going to say the words she'd wanted to hear for months. But she could see it in his eyes now, and that was enough for her. Asking him to admit to his feelings when they were about to leave would have been mean. Kagome managed to nod, and she shut her eyes tightly to keep from crying. When that didn't work, she turned around. She didn't want Inuyasha to see her cry, but when her shoulders began to tremble, Kagome knew that didn't matter.
"Of course I trust you, Inuyasha! Who could I trust more? You've saved me on more then one occasion, and even when we fight... when we fight... I'm going to miss our fights."
Come stop your crying, it'll be all right.
Just take my hand, hold it tight.
I will protect you, from all around you.
I will be here, don't you cry.
"Betcha I'm going to miss them more." She glanced at him to see he was smiling, and it was obvious he was trying to instigate another one for old time's sake. Kagome managed to laugh and his grin grew. "That's better. I mean, everything's set to rights again, so you shouldn't be crying." He didn't bother speaking his thought that if anybody deserved to start crying, it was Inuyasha.
She dried her face. "I don't see why you have to, Inuyasha, but I do trust you." Her words slowed as they began to come straight from the heart. "I look forward to when I'll see you again. Thank you, Inuyasha, for everything. I mean it. Because I will see you again, won't I?"
"I swear on it." He laughed, trying to cover up that his yellow eyes were filling with tears. "Now get going, will you? The longer you stay here, the harder it's going to be for me to let you go. But I have to let you go. So just leave already!"
Now that it was actually time to go, now that Inuyasha was telling her to go, and now that she was seeing how hard he was from showing her how much he'd miss her, Kagome didn't want to leave, even though she knew that he was right. Kagome glanced at the well, and shook her head. Running forward, she threw her arms around Inuyasha and held the demon tightly. He was caught off guard, but he quickly returned her hug.
"Stupid woman, can't you ever do what you're told to do?" he mumbled, burying his face in her dark hair. She kissed his cheek, drying his tears with her lips. His grip on her tightened. Slowly, as if pained him, he let her go. Their eyes met, and their breaths caught as they stared at the pain and warm emotions etched on each other's faces. "Don't, Kagome. Please, just go. It won't be long. I swear I'll see you again, and I mean it. It'll be longer for me, and if you say anything, the temptation to never leave your side will just be too much."
He undid the sword and pressed it in her hands. Kagome hadn't realized that they had been holding hands. "But just in case something doesn't work out the way it's supposed to, take the Tetsusaiga. It'll protect you when I can't."
She felt heat rise to her cheeks. She was touched, and clutched the sword to her chest tightly, as if it were the most precious thing in the world to her. Since it was the only thing Kagome had that belonged to Inuyasha, it really was the most precious thing she had at that moment. "But what will you use to defend yourself?"
"I still have my claws. They worked before, they'll still work now."
For arms so small, you seem so strong.
My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm.
This bond between us can't be broken.
I will be here, don't you cry.
Kagome smiled at him. She'd respect his wishes and accept his gift. "Thank you, Inuyasha. Not just for the sword, but for all the times you saved me or were there to guard me. You certainly don't wear shining armour, but I'll always think if you as my knight."
Inuyasha felt his cheeks go red as red as his clothes. He looked up to see that Kagome was starting to climb into the well. He quickly clamped a hand on her shoulder. "I'll close the well in enough time that you should be able to go back to your time and climb out of it. The last thing I think you need is to find out that you're trapped under a rock or in a warded box or something."
His hand tightened. "I'll be thinking of you often. You'll always be right here."
Kagome laughed at him softly. He was just so cute, sometimes! She tapped his head. "You think with your head, Inuyasha, not your heart."
"Not when it comes to you." The beautiful moment when he grinned at her, the smug smile he often seemed to hold back just to flash her at the most inopportune time. "Enough of this mush! I'll see you soon Kagome." And then he nudged her, just a little, as he removed his hand from her shoulder.
Cuz you'll be in my heart,
Yes you';ll be in my heart,
From this day on,
Now and forever more.
Oh, you'll be in my heart,
No matter what they say.
You'll be here in my heart,
Always.
She tumbled into the well, and the blue light wrapped around her, and she landed on all-too familiar land.
He looked into the well. She was gone. She was really gone. For a long time, he wondered if he should have said something, to tell her how he really felt. No. That would have been the wrong thing to do. Inuyasha had worked it all out with Kaede several weeks ago, when he realized that he loved Kagome just too much. He could never love anybody like he'd love her.
Slumping against the well, he drew his knees to his chest and lowered his head, curling into a tight ball so that any curious passerby might not notice him, and if they did, they wouldn't see he was crying. Kagome had gotten the easy end of the deal. All she had to do was take the sword and climb into a well. He had the hard part. He had to destroy the well, and then keep on living, knowing that his Kagome had not even been born yet, and wondering when fate might throw them together again.
'Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll get Miroku to seal the well. I don't think I can bring myself to do it.'
Why can't they understand the way we feel?
They just can't trust, what they can't explain.
I know we're different but, deep inside us,
We're not that different at all.
It took her almost a whole half hour, but she finally managed to get the bicycle out of the well, and then throw her knapsacks out of it. Fifteen minutes later, her clothes dirty and her knees scrapped, she managed to climb out herself. Looking at the well, she discovered the surprise of her life.
The well was covered, nailed shut, and covered in talismans.
She put her bike away and then bounded in the house. "Momma! Grandpa! Sota! I'm home! Man, I just had the weirdest experience, and. . . ." Something made her stop. Her parental unit was staring at her, and Sota had his nose in a book. In fact, the whole scene looked... normal.
"Kagome, how in the world did you get so dirty? And where did you get that rusted sword from?"
She stared back at the scene. Even Sota looked up from his book. "You even have spider webs in your hair. What were you doing? Playing in the well house again?"
"That's the weird thing! I was! Well, I wasn't playing, but I was coming out of the well, and then I looked over and it was sealed and... Momma, what are you doing?" Her mother was feeling her head to check if she had a fever. "I'm not sick. Sota, don't you remember? Don't you remember Inuyasha?"
The demon's name had a reaction on everybody in the room. Her grandfather rocked back and forth in her chair. "We all remember Inuyasha, Kagome. You must have been studying too hard, the poor girl. The demon Inuyasha and the priest Miroku sealed up the well, oh, near five hundred years ago. The exact number's escaped me now. It's never been opened, so you couldn't have been playing in there, Kagome. And it never will be, for as ling as I'm still among the living."
She rose an eyebrow curiously, beginning to vaguely comprehend what had been going on. Either she was crazy (but of course the sword she held in her hands and the voice in her heart told her this was impossible) or else the time line had been corrupted, somehow. By sealing the well in the past, Inuyasha had made it impossible for Kagome to go back in the first place. Yet she knew that it was all true. Tetsusaiga was in her hand, and she could feel warmth from the jewel under her shirt. She'd tried giving it to Inuyasha, but he had refused it, saying that his retribution could not come from a magical artifact, and only from his own hands and time.
Running to her room, she threw her knapsack in and the sword on top of that. Then she ran back to the well.
It was opened again.
She closed her eyes, and then looked for a third time.
The well was closed again.
It would open only for her, as if she'd been fated to go through it, and nothing could stop that. She walked away, shutting the door tightly. She should have just accepted that the well was closed. Now the temptation to climb through would always be there.
"Kagome!"
And you'll be in my heart,
Yes you'll be in my heart.
From this day one,
Now and forever more.
"Then you really did let her go?" Miroku nearly dropped the plank of wood into the well. When Inuyasha nodded, he hesitated. "Then are you sure you want me to be sealing this well with you, Inuyasha? I mean, it would be hard, but you two could go back and forth. She could come here, and you could go there. Sango, Shippo, myself... we'd all love to see her. It's not just about you and Kagome, Inuyasha."
"I'm well aware of that, Miroku," the other man growled. "But we'll see each other. I don't think it was meant to be this way. It was supposed to be us and Kikyo. Not Kagome. She belongs in that world, but her soul will always belong wherever the four of us, maybe even Kaede and Shippo too, wherever we are."
Miroku's eyes widened. "Then that's what you're planning to do? Trust fate? Fate? Inuyasha, fate stuck you to a tree! It made you steal the jewel in the first place! It. . . ."
"No it didn't!" he snarled. "People did that, Miroku! Humans like Kikyo and demons like Sesshomaru and people who are both, like Naraku. Fate didn't do any of that. And I'm not really trusting fate, but... hope. Yes, I have hope. And I believe in my prayers and, hell, after everything we've been through, don't you think the Gods could smile on us a little? And even then it won't be perfect, because, well, what if something gets screwed up? What if I arrive too late and she's angry at me?"
He frowned slightly. "Don't you worry about her protecting herself?"
"She's perfectly capable of protecting herself." The look on his companion's face suggested that he'd not expected Inuyasha to say something like that. "I know she may not look like she can, Miroku, but she has and she will. She took off one of Miss Centipede's legs, she cracked Yura's skull, she helped fight the mask, and she helped that ghost, and... and Shippo. She helped him. And you too. Kagome mucks about, and she's always getting into things. To a passerby it may make her look reckless, maybe even crazy, but once you get to know her you see that's because she has this maternal instinct and she just wants to help people, and she doesn't really care if she becomes hurt in the process. It's part of why I love her."
The look on the monk's face suggested he had expected that even less.
"Kagome!"
She turned around, still dirty and looking confused, but she smiled at the boy none the less. "Hello, Hojo."
He didn't seem to notice the sad look in her brown eyes as he stopped in front of her, his cheeks so red it looked like he'd just run a marathon. "How's the rabies?"
She was so used to her grandfather's odd lies that she answered right off the bat. "Oh, it's... Wait! Why are you asking me this? The well, I... You. . . ."
"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, trying not to laugh at her surprised face. Hojo wanted nothing more than to hug her, as he had been waiting centuries to do again, but right now containing his laughter took precedence.
Kagome shook her head. "Why are you apologizing to me? You have nothing to be sorry for. You're always very helpful to me, Hojo. I'll never forget the kindness that you've showed me, in the darkest times in my life." She had a sudden, wild thought. Inuyasha had never been so outwardly helpful as Hojo. His help had needed to be argued, coerced, or... but he'd showed kindness in the times when there was no other hope. Strange how these two boys from different times had helped her in different ways while they had both always been a kind of beacon to her.
She noticed he was staring at her. "What is it?"
"Where's Tetsusaiga?"
Don't listen to them
Cause what do they know?
We need each other,
To have and to hold,
They'll see in time,
I know.
Kagome felt like the ground was dropping away from her. Her first instinct was to clutch the necklace hidden under her shirt, and she wondered if Hojo was a demon, but he certainly didn't seem menacing. She was about to ask him how he knew, when she suddenly really looked at him for the first time.
He was everything Inuyasha wasn't, and yet everything he was at the same time. As she looked at him, she swore that she could see his eyes flash yellow. Most boys would have been scared away by stories of bunions, lyme disease, or all the other stories her grandfather had created, but never Hojo. He'd always been right there for her, with a gift to know that he was thinking about her, and sometimes he'd even tease her about it.
"But... it's impossible! You... you were reincarnated? But you were half demon!"
Hojo smiled, looking at his body sheepishly. "True, but I was also half human. I guess that it doesn't really matter what you are, it's still possible. You taught me that, you know, that anything is possible. Actually, a lot of people did. Sesshomaru caring for Rin, my father for my mother, even Miroku finding a girl who didn't mind his perversion. This body is weaker than my old one, but I don't have to worry about accidentally scratching people, at least. And I hear that girls say I'm a hunk, so I guess it's not too bad looking. Except for one girl, that is, and she's the one I care about the most."
"You jerk!" She marched right up to him and poked him the chest. The poor boy backed up, frightened. "You insensitive little weasel! Inuyasha, you were here all this time and you didn't do anything? You could have given us help, you could have told us what would happen and you didn't! You knew what we were going through, and you didn't do anything?"
"I gave you all the help I could!" Inuyasha protested. He spread his hands wide, as if showing her that he had been helpless. "I could have said something, Kagome, but what if I told you everything that was going to happen? I'd screw up the time line. I had to let everything play out the way he had done before, and the way it always will."
When destiny calls you,
You must be strong.
I may not be with you,
But you've got to hold on.
They'll see in time!
I know, we'll show them together!
She was suddenly aware of how hard it must have been for Hojo. He had to remain in the present, thinking and remembering what had gone on in the past and knowing that he could do nothing to stop it. He could have warned Kagome about the spider-head monk and save his old body from being, but by doing that he might have caused a major loss of life in the mountain villages. And then he wouldn't have told Kagome that she smelled nice and it might have taken her even longer to realize what she thought of him. Like with Kikyo, he would relieve his darkest memories and be trapped in their dangerous webbing, until the past ensnared him and he could not distinguish between his old self and his new self.
As Kagome had travelled in her journeys, his thoughts and spirit had been right there beside her: guiding, worrying, and reliving it all with her. Without another thought and seeing only her first love, with his adorable puppy ears and all, she flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. 'As much as I missed him, he must have missed me more, having to wait a whole five centuries before he could see me again.'
Cause you'll be in my heart,
Believe me, you'll be in my heart.
I'll be there
From this day on,
Now and forever more
There were tears in her eyes as she tried to smile. "I guess this means I'm going to have to get used to seeing you with short hair," Kagome muttered, trying to pull away, but he wouldn't let her go. Even in a human form, his grip was inescapable, when he wanted it to be. Kagome relaxed and was content to be held by Hojo.
"You're just like I remembered you," he whispered, and she wondered if the thought had been a vocal pondering or if he was talking to her. She felt his muscles shake under hers, and she realized that he was crying, too.
Kagome sniffled quietly and lifted her head from his shoulder to see a tear running down his cheek. It touched her more deeply than she knew at the time. Brushing it away, she stared at his face. Human body or not, she could still see Inuyasha's soul staring out her from his eyes. 'Is that what Inuyasha always saw when he looked at me? Did he ever look at my real body, or did he just see that I was like Kikyo and then move into my eyes, and find Kikyo there too?'
Such wild thoughts one had when they found such delightful secrets that exceeded even their wildest dreams!
Oh, you'll be in heart,.
No matter what they say.
I'll be with you,
You'll be here in my heart.
His breath caught in his throat when she touched him. "I've made you cry again. I'm sorry." He paused. "But I'm not going to let you go until you stop. I never meant to make you cry, Kagome."
"I know," she choked, feeling her tears start again. Kagome grabbed to his school uniform and buried her face in it. Her heart pounded in her chest. "They're tears of happiness, Inuyasha. And I don't want you to let go."
If Kagome thought that his grip on her tightened at her words, she would be right, but Kagome was too busy thinking how wonderful it was that her Inuyasha was back, and that nothing could keep them apart this time.
I'll be there, always.
I'll be there for you always,
Always and always
Just look over her shoulder.