Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Have you ever wondered why it is that Kagome's mother allows her to go gallivanting through the Senogoku Jidai with an obviously testosterone-laden and very sexy hanyou boy? I can accept the time slip, accept the youkai, even accept the very big sword that grows and throbs red and spews things. But the fact that Kagome is allowed to romp about so freely defies all logic. I mean, the first thing Mama does when she meets Inuyasha is feel up his ears. It has driven me batty from the beginning. I refuse to believe that Mama is that dumb.
IX. Return
"Ne, Inuyasha, I can't believe it let us through!"
He had expected this attempt would be as fruitless as the others. The hanyou had tried the well almost every day, hoping to find a way to reconnect Kagome with her family. He hated seeing her pain, would have done anything to fix it. Well, almost anything, so long as he didn't have to give her up.
Inuyasha had been worried about how she would react to the almost certain disappointment of another failed attempt. To be honest, he had brought her to the well only to buy himself some time. Kagome had been unusually distressed after this latest dream, and he had hoped that the fresh air would soothe her nerves while affording him an opportunity to reassure her. Now a new worry wormed it's way into his mind, setting his senses on edge. This was Kagome's world, certainly, but something smelled different.
"Kagome, something's not right."
She tensed. The distress from her dream echoed through her being. What does he sense?
Her reaction didn't escape Inuyasha's notice. He clasped her hand, trying to reassure her with the gentle stroking of his thumb. He realized that he was probably reacting to Kagome's nerves, to his own surprise at their passage through the time slip. Kagome's world always smelled strange, and it had been months since their last visit. Even he had to admit that his protective instincts had gone into overdrive since he got Kagome with child. Still, it couldn't hurt to be cautious.
"The air smells a little different, that's all. Let's just take this slowly."
Kagome wanted to protest. Slowly is fine and good when it's not your family. But Inuyasha held her firmly in check as he leapt from the well, cautiously approaching the door to the outside world.
He peered outside. Nothing seemed very much different, other than the slightest shift in the modern stench in the air. Everything looked much like he remembered, except that the paint was brighter. Obviously the old man had gotten inspired during their absence. Deeming the environment safe enough, Inuyasha drew Kagome out of the well house.
With the vision of Mama fresh in her mind, Kagome headed straight for Goshinboku. Worry clenched at her heart once again when she spotted her mother at precisely the same spot she had seen in her dream. The echo of tragedy suppressed her instinct to run to her mother's arms.
"Mama. We're back."
Kagome nearly fainted as the young woman stood and turned to face them. Inuyasha's eyes widened at the figure of a young woman nearing the end of pregnancy. Higurashi-san bowed awkwardly as she struggled to bring her emotions in check.
"Excuse me," she spoke softly. "I'm terribly sorry if I disturbed your meditations. I… I didn't realize we had visitors. People so rarely come to the shrine at this hour." She seemed shy, and dreadfully embarrassed at having been caught in an emotional moment.
"No, no," Kagome spoke quickly. "Please, excuse us, we didn't… didn't mean to intrude." Her mind whirled as she struggled to understand how this might have happened. Here, before them, stood Mama – as she might have been twelve, thirteen years ago. Pregnant with Souta. Realization dawned.
"You've lost … someone."
The young widow looked pained, the loss too fresh. "My husband. He … died in the Shinjuku wreck last week." Kagome's gut twisted. The family car – it had been their family car, when she was small. She had watched her father's death.
"I'm so sorry," her voice nearly broke as the emotion welled suddenly.
She looked at the odd young couple before her. They seemed … faded, as though they weren't quite there. The young man was very strange, obviously dressed for some festival, although she wasn't aware of any festival in Tokyo today. The young woman was also dressed in medieval costume, but her clothes were far less outlandish. She seemed somehow familiar. Maybe I'm seeing ghosts.
"I'm so sorry," the young woman sounded upset. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose someone you love that way … I, I don't know what to say."
"Don't be sorry," she soothed. "There are no words. The sun just rises, and then again, and then again. You just have to keep going, one day at a time." Talking it through, explaining it to someone else, helped to ease the pain momentarily, seeming to distance the grief as though it belonged to another. It was a welcome respite.
The young woman before her spoke again, hesitantly. "I… I have been… separated from my family, for several months now. I'm not sure when … or if … I'll ever see them again. It's very difficult, sometimes."
Higurashi-san nodded slowly. It wasn't the same, but close enough that she could understand. "My family, they are my strength. My reason to go on." Her hands smoothed over her belly.
The young woman looked thoughtful. "We're pregnant, too. It's our first."
Higurashi-san smiled. "This is our … my second. I have a little girl." She paused. "Treasure this time, it passes so quickly. And they grow so fast!"
The young woman cocked her head. "It hasn't been much to treasure so far, I've been so sick."
"Oh, I had terrible morning sickness with our first, but it passed. All the women I know who've had children, they seem inclined to tell the most horrible stories. I was terrified. But it wasn't nearly so bad as they said. Once the sickness passed, I loved being pregnant. And now I have a beautiful daughter. She means so much to me – she is my life now, my daughter, and this little one soon."
The young woman before her grew somber. "You remind me of her, my mother. You are … very much like her." Her eyes glittered. "I wish I could tell her how much I love her, how much I miss her, that we are doing okay…"
The strange young man shifted, his attention suddenly drawn towards the torii. Higurashi-san blinked. Did his ears just… twitch? They looked real enough, were certainly a very impressive part of his costume, but surely they couldn't move. Then his nose twitched.
"Tadaima…" Jii-chan called, returning from the park with Kagome. The young girl's happy giggles filled the air.
Higurashi-san turned, prepared to invite the young couple in for tea. Kagome would like their costumes, especially the young man's. No doubt she would adore the puppy ears. But the young man suddenly grew agitated, pulling at his wife's shirt. His voice was gruff.
"Kagome, we have to go. Now."
Kagome? It was an unusual name, a nonsense name they had plucked from a mysterious song, seemingly laden with long-lost meaning. The coincidence was… uncanny.
Higurashi-san watched, stunned, as the young woman's eyes grew wide. She stared at the young widow for a long moment, the sounds of Jii-chan and young Kagome drawing closer, before gazing back at the strange young man.
"I'm sorry," her words seemed filled with genuine regret. "We have to go now. I hope that we'll be able to come back and visit again."
Many years passed before Higurashi-san had reason to recollect that strange encounter. When she did, she found that the young woman's words had been etched into her memory.
tadaima – Traditionally, an announcement made when indicating arrival; "I'm here!" or "I'm home!" (www. abcb. com/ency/t/tadaima. Htm)
Story notes: I generally dislike it when authors embed lengthy responses to reviews in their chapters, but various reviewers have made some good points that I'd like to address briefly:
1. I do plan to post this story in its entirety on MediaMiner. org when it is complete. You guys are my betas. I'm ironing kinks out as I go, and I realize I'm going to have to do a final pass for commas. Dang things just keep sneaking in where they don't belong.
2. Thank you for catching my persistent misspelling of bouzu (which is an insulting name for a Buddhist monk, btw). I knew the spelling was off, but was too damn lazy to look it up until prompted. I've added an explanatory note to chapter one, as well. So, again, thank you.
3. Yes, it's a lot of fluff. sigh I feel that this is somewhat justified because life is inevitably going to be somewhat less exciting for Inuyasha once the quest is over. In Takahashi-sensei's version, it remains to be seen whether his life will be less exciting from the Sengoku Jidai, the modern era or hell, but whichever way it goes the gang are all due for a rest. I don't think Inu's life will be totally devoid of excitement, however, and even in my little version of events I expect that he's getting all kinds of action. It's just off-screen at the moment.
Assuming that Kagome was trapped in Sengoku Jidai, I figure that she would have to make all kinds of interesting adjustments. I want to delve those a bit. The fic is therefore evolving into a rather Kag-centric piece. But I do feel a little guilty that Inuyasha has been relegated to something of a bit part for the past couple of chapters. I mean, really, he's been acting like a wet dishrag or, Kami help us, Houjou. Let's just chalk it up to the fact that his survival instincts have kicked in and he's getting quite smart about the hormonal effects of pregnancy. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back to his feisty self before we're done here. Or y'all can slap me with wet ramen noodles. Or something.
