Inuyasha noticed a change in Kagome a few weeks after her three year isolation from the feudal era. The difference was subtle at first with the way she would stare off into space until he snapped his clawed fingers in front of her face to bring her back to reality. Other times her usual chatter would cease all together without warning. But worst was when her beautiful brown eyes glazed over with such sadness, an expression he had seen all too often during their hunt for Naraku. The hanyou hated seeing his wife so despondent and was afraid that he was the reason, no matter how many times she assured him that he had done nothing wrong, that it was her choice.
The sun rolled up lazily in the sky, alerting everyone that is was lunch time. Inuyasha sat down cross legged in their hut while Kagome finished preparing their food. If only they could eat some nice, warm Ramen noodles. That was one of the very few things he enjoyed about her strange world.
"Here you go, Inuyasha," the miko said in an uncharacteristically soft voice when she handed him a bowl of soup she had made and that was the last straw.
"Kagome, what's wrong? Did I do something stupid?" When she opened her mouth to deny him he scowled, setting his bowl of food down on the floor in front of him. "And don't try and tell me nothing's wrong. I ain't stupid."
He folded his arms across his chest into his robe but although his posture was tough, his golden eyes were swimming with concern over his wife. The black haired woman let out a defeated sigh, her facade crumbling. "I'm not upset with you, Inuyasha. I…I just have been missing my family on the other side lately, that's all." She turned her head away from him, fixing her gaze on anything but him. "I just keep wondering how everyone is doing. How is Souta liking middle school? Has he made any new friends? How are his grades? I'm sure they are better than mine ever were," she ended with a sad chuckle but a smile was warming onto her face as she spoke more of her family, not that Inuyasha wasn't her family, he was the most vital part of her family. She had no idea how she would be able to survive without him.
"And Mom, I wonder how she is? I hope she isn't working too hard now that I'm not around to help her out. And Grandpa I wonder how he is too, and even Buyo." The smile then began to fade, and her husband could not stand that look at all. She wasn't allowed to be sad, not when he was around. So that meant that it was his job to bring the light back into her eyes.
"Then why don't you go visit them through the Bone Eater's Well?" he asked, thinking that the solution was obvious, but seeing Kagome lower her eyes to the ground and dig her sandals into the dirt told him otherwise.
He would pester her until she gave him an answer which she seemed to realize. "I'm afraid that the well won't work," the priestess in training admitted. Inuyasha let out a snort, raising an ink black eyebrow at her.
"What's the worst that will happen? Either you go and you are able to travel back to your time or you go and you can't. Wouldn't you rather go and be disappointed instead of wonder the rest of your life?" he pointed out, but from the look on her face he knew there was more to it.
"What if I go to the other side and I…" she blinked her doe brown eyes to keep the tears at bay that tried to escape. She paused, breathing in a shaky breath so that she had the strength to continue. "And I can't come back to you?"
Memories of the three long years without his miko filled his mind, along with the feelings of sorrow that came with it. He remembered going to the well every three days to wait for her, wishing every single time that the well would glow with purple light and then she would appear. And every day that he left that well alone, he left behind a bit more of his hope for her return there at that well. The well that brought them together, but also kept them apart.
The silver haired half demon shook his head, ridding those thoughts to the back of his mind. How he wished he could take his Tetsaiga and kill those wretched memories. Then again if he hadn't been apart from Kagome, he might not have realized how much he not only cared for her, but needed her. He didn't voice any of his thoughts out loud. All he did was pat her head affectionately and ruffle her hair.
"Silly Kagome, as if I would let you go alone," the hanyou smiled down at her and to further calm her, he pulled her into his chest. His clawed fingers, meant to mercilessly kill, began weaving through her ebony locks that he would never get tired of feeling. Her soft hair felt like they were almost as soft as the fuzzy ears adorning the top of his head, not that he would ever admit that his ears were soft.
"B-but what if we both go and the well accepts me and not you?" she whimpered, nuzzling her face into his firerat.
"If that starts to happen then I'll pull ya right back into my arms," Inuyasha promised, planting a kiss to the top of her head. "No matter what I won't let you leave my side, never gain."
Something about his words calmed his wife down, much to his relief. At least she didn't start crying. If she had he would have really lost it. "Come on, let's show that stupid well whose boss!" He hefted her up onto his back and ran with her, just like they used to do every day. There was no need for him to do it since the well wasn't far off from the village but it felt nice to have her cling on tightly to him, not that he didn't get enough of that last night.
Upon their arrival, Inuyasha bent his knees slightly, allowing Kagome to slide off his back. He stepped up to the well first, resting a barefoot on the old wood. He felt the familiar pull of old magic and smiled. Without a word, he looked back, offering his outstretched hand to his wife. When her hand rested in his he wrapped his longer fingers around hers, holding her tight and after a shared look of determination and love, they both jumped into the well, holding onto each other the entire way to the future.