Evening was falling soft and low.
The sky was a beautiful canvas of pink and blue streaks, and all throughout the small village the sounds of work and toil were winding down. Cows lowed as they were milked and fed; dog's barked welcoming family home.
Jovial greetings were exchanged as the men went their respective ways from the fields, forge and barns. The scent of numerous cook fires and pots of bubbling stew hung heavy in the air.
At one end of the village on the road to the market stood a monk and his hanyou companion. Together they watched the village slowing down, putting itself to bed for the night.
"We have a good life, my friend." Miroku said. There was a wealth of satisfaction in his tone. Not far from where they stood, he knew his wife and twin daughters were eagerly waiting his return. His small son would greet him with a bubbly smile, and he would again thank all the kami for his good fortune.
Under his ungloved hand, the wood of the shakujo was time worn and smooth. Passed down from grandfather to father to son, the feel of it on his skin was tangible proof of his blessings.
The hanyou InuYasha grunted. Always a man of few words it was easy nonetheless to see the luminescent joy in his amber eyes. It was a good thing to see.
"Did you ever plan for another life, InuYasha?" Miroku asked. "If Kagome had not returned, I mean?"
The monk knew his friend had been desperately lonely, despite him and Sango's attempts to include him in their family. He had often wondered if someday the hanyou would simply leave, turning feral as he had once been so long ago. Miroku wouldn't have judged him for it, know it would have been an effort to outrun the never ending pain.
A shadow of darkness crossed the amber eyes, recalling those years. But his words were steady and strong when he spoke.
"No. There was no life for me but this, with her." InuYasha shifted the rice bales he carried. "I'd have waited 500 years, if I'd had to."
Miroku smiled, knowing it was true. His friend was nothing if not determined.
"500 years." He mused. "That's a long time. Would it have been worth it?"
And InuYasha snorted his derision at the question before stepping once more toward home, toward Kagome who was waiting with her own pot of stew in their own warm hut.
"Every minute of it, yes."
Finis
