Okay, I seriously apologize for the vagueness of that last chappie. Here's some fluff to compensate for that. Note: There is no actual physical contact between Inu and Kags, but…AH! I SAID TOO MUCH! –covers mouth with duct tape-

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A week…

A whole damn week since Inuyasha was sent back. Kagome found herself stopping to look at a calendar to make sure that it really had only been that long since his departure. It had seemed like an eternity. With a sigh, she turned back to her coffee, hoping to warm up from the sudden chill that the overnight blizzard had brought last night. Around her at the table in Uncommon Grounds were Mona, Clara, and Tara, all of who were aware of Inuyasha's leave (Tara was still the only one who knew why) and had all agreed not to bring it up around Kagome, so they talked about everything that they missed about Japan and asked Kagome if there were any significant differences between the time they were there and now.

"So, do you still go to Wacdnard's with people every now and again?" Clara asked Kagome as she reached for a packet of sweetener set on the side of the table. The said miko shook her head dully as she continued to stare at her cup of warm coffee.

"I still go there, but I'm almost always too busy to go anymore." 'But I'm sure I'll have time now that- NO! I can't think like this…not here…' Sensing Kagome's sadness, Tara decided it best to change the subject.

"So, what do you guys think of that hottie working the cash register over there?" Tara jabbed a finger over at the spiky blonde haired guy that was currently taking an order from a couple in line. Kagome's eyes lightened considerably at the topic change.

"Hmm…on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest?" Mona asked as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. Tara nodded eagerly as she grinned. "Then I'd say…three."

"Wow, you're being generous." Tara commented sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "What about you guys? Please tell me that you'll score him higher than a three."

"Sorry, but he's a two in my book." Clara stated dully as she sipped her hot chocolate. "He's got no ass. You need a man with some ass." At this remark, Tara further inspected that the cashier indeed had no ass, which is a highly unattractive quality in some cases. Clara continued, "I mean, I'm not saying that he needs a ghetto booty, but he's gotta have something there."

"Alright, alright we get the point- he's flat. What about you, Kagome?" The miko turned to inspect the cashier thoughtfully for a moment.

"Can we go into negative numbers?"

"Oh come on!" Tara shrieked as her two sisters erupted in laughter along with Kagome. Tara pouted. "You guys are being cruel to the guy. He's totally at least a six." Clara mocked a look of worry as she placed the back of her hand against Tara's forehead, as if to feel for a temperature. Tara quirked an eyebrow in response. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Are you sick, or something?"

"No, I was dropped on my head as a baby." This earned more laughter among the group of friends. They continued to talk about anything they could think of, the conversations lively and fun, and as they talked, Kagome was glad that she could keep her mind from returning to Inuyasha, if only for a little while.

---

Sesshomaru couldn't help but groan inwardly as he watched his brother stare out of the apartment window with a dull look on his face. Yet another sigh escaped the hanyou's lips (for the umpteenth time in the past minute) as he gazed down at the streets of London, his thoughts focused on the only other person that he could think of- his girlfriend…the one he hadn't seen in five hundred years…Kagome. Yet another sigh passed his lips at the very thought of her name.

"Will you stop sighing? It's unbelievably annoying, 'Yasha." His older brother's voice registered in his head, temporarily pulling Inuyasha out of his thoughts as he sat at the window ledge. He peeled his eyes from the window to acknowledge that he had heard what his brother had said.

"Huh- oh, yeah…right." He mumbled as his dim, defeated golden eyes swept back over to the window. In all honesty, things had been somewhat like this for the past four hundred years; the first hundred that he spent waiting to be reunited with Kagome were somewhat the same as when she was there, except if her name happened to come up in conversation…

…or he picked up the smell of wildflowers and thought that it was her…

…or he had a dream about her the night before…

After those first hundred years, the hanyou's morale seemed to steadily decline until he was beyond all saving without Kagome. He'd act tough around his friends and his half brother, make it seem as though he'd wait the five hundred years without a problem, but they all knew better- the reflection in his eyes had dulled to appear as though he was hardly alive (a/n: think of when you can't tell the difference between their pupil and their iris), and he didn't stand nearly as tall and proud as he had when the reincarnated miko was at his side. And after a while, he gave up on trying to convince even himself, letting his defeat radiate off of his aura as though it was the air that he breathed.

Though, Sesshomaru had to admit, for being separated with the one he was going to take as his mate, Inuyasha was handling it about as well as one would expect…minus the slitting of his wrists and suicide attempts like he had seen other youkai try to do like the sorry emos that they were. Emo or not, his younger sibling shouldn't feel like this anymore; after all, he lived out the five hundred years with all of his friends with him (youkai blood transfers do wonders to human life spans) and now he could be with his girlfriend again…

…unless…

"Hey, 'Yasha, I can't help but ask something that's been on my mind." The said hanyou turned his head away from the window in anticipation for what his sibling had to say. "Are you still straight?"

Now where the fuck did that come from?

"…Yeah…you know that, otherwise I'd have moved on from…" He cringed, not wanting to bring up her name too loudly. Sesshomaru grinned. Why not have a bit of fun with this?

"I know you say that you still want to be with her and all, but you haven't had the comforting touch of a woman in five hundred years to the day, so-"

"That doesn't make someone gay, alright? What makes them gay is when they wear pink rouge on their faces to make it look like demon markings and then just up and wash it off for no particular reason other than that people in this era would think it gay, oh, and about the fur that you used to always wear up until about two hundred years ago…" Inuyasha couldn't help but grin in spite of himself. After all, he always won the argument when he brought that up (mainly because Sesshomaru never really had anything to say other than denying that he was gay as an argument). His grin faded rather quickly as he returned his gaze to the window and spotted the hotel that Kagome had stayed before he was sent back, and was most likely still staying there now. His chest throbbed painfully. Why did he have to have such an excellent photographic memory? It wasn't fair!

Remembering the hotel led to remembering Kagome's friends here in London, which, of course, led to remembering Kagome…again. It's not that he didn't want to remember her, but when he thought of her, his thoughts would eventually drift from the good times that they had to when he watched her sleeping, his own fading hand resting on her cheek, as he disappeared from this era to the feudal one. His eyes darkened even more when he remembered his reaction once he awoke in the feudal era, when he scrambled to his feet and subconsciously ran to the well despite remembering what Sesshomaru had told him, jumping down the said wooden structure in a desperate attempt to at least be reassured that he and Kagome were still connected, only to have his heart crushed as his feet came in contact with the dirt floor and he was still very much in the feudal era.

That same day, he had asked Sango and Miroku if they wanted to live to see Kagome again (which, of course they did) before transferring a little of his blood to each of them, thereby extending their lifespan as long as a youkai or hanyou, though not making any changed in appearance or abilities. A few months after that, they had taken on Naraku for the final time, along with Sesshomaru, Rin, Jaken, Koga, Ayame, Ginta, and Hakkaku as their allies. It had been rough but Naraku and every one of his incarnations had been ultimately defeated. But the victory had come at a high price, for Rin had been killed by a lesser demon that had caught her off guard as she sat on the sidelines and had devoured her little body. Sesshomaru had personally seen to it that the demon was…taken care of.

After that, life seemed to go on agonizingly slow…all five hundred years of it. Sango and Miroku had remained mostly unchanged, albeit their choice of clothing (after all, a traditional kimono just wasn't in style for every day life anymore), Kirara was also unfazed by the passage of time, but Shippo now was almost as tall as his adult friends, and now acted much more maturely (except the occasional trick he pulled on Inuyasha to piss him off) and dressed as such, and –thankfully- was able to hide his kitsune tail when he was out in public.

Inuyasha looked somewhat different, and noticeably so. His hair was much shorter than it had been in the feudal era- now the back was only to the middle of his neck, short and somewhat naturally spiky. Two pieces of hair, a little longer than the hair in the back of his head, hung in front of his human ears (which he now sported, thanks to a suppressing charm) and just brushed his upper jaw line. His bangs remained relatively the same in the passage of time, and he considered his haircut particularly unique (if you're having trouble picturing this, think Link's hair from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, only silver). Other than that, and his wardrobe, he remained pretty much unchanged in the past five hundred years.

Now he wondered how Kagome would think of him, seeing him like this. What would she say about his appearance, or his demeanor? How would he react to seeing her again? And what about her- how would she react when she saw him? He had five hundred years to ponder over it and still he could not come up with an adamant answer. Another question that had haunted him even more: would she be mad? Would she be mad at him for not telling her about being sent back to the feudal era when he found out? Gods, he wasn't so sure he'd be able to handle it if she was. Then again, she was always so understanding and willing to listen to him, so if he explained himself, maybe she wouldn't be so mad, if she even was to begin with.

"So, why haven't you called her yet?" Damn it, why does Sesshomaru always manage to break his train of thought?

"I never got her phone number. There was no need for it when we were together, considering that I didn't even know what a phone was back then." He grumbled, cursing himself for being so technically challenged when he was with Kagome for the umpteenth time in gods knew how many years.

"Hmm…do you want to talk to her?"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?"

"Oh…obviously not, then…never mind it then; forget I said anything."

"Sesshomaru…" The hanyou growled, cracking his knuckles at his side dramatically. "If you know Kagome's number…wait…what the hell are you doing with her number?" He demanded, obviously still as –if not even more- overprotective of his girlfriend as he was five hundred years ago. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at his younger sibling's stupidity.

"I don't have her number. I have Tara's, who just so happens to be with Kagome at this very moment, though I don't know where; Tara never specified." For a split second, Inuyasha's eyes seemed to light up at the thought of hearing the voice that had haunted his every thought speak to him again, before they dimmed down again.

"Will you call Tara's cell then? If Kagome's with her, then she can talk on Tara's phone, and-"

"I'm two steps ahead of you –like always-" He said as he called Tara's cell from his contacts list. Inuyasha was so ecstatic, he was almost willing to overlook the comment his older brother made…almost.

---

"Ack…I swear, this cell phone is ringing like crazy today…honestly!" Tara sighed as she flicked her flip phone open and held it to her ear. "Hello, Tara here."

"Tara, Kagome's with you, right?"

"Sesshy! Er, yeah, she's here with me, why do you ask?" She inquired, genuinely confused as to why her boyfriend was asking about her best friend and not her (she wasn't jealous…she swears it).

"Someone important wants to talk to her, so put her on the phone."

"Err…okay, hold on a sec…" She placed her free hand on the speaker of the phone and turned to her friend. "Kags, someone wants to talk to you." The reincarnated miko's thin brows furrowed in confusion.

"Then why did they call your phone?" Tara shrugged, handing her friend the phone. Kagome blinked at it, but held it to her ear nonetheless. "Hello?"

"Kagome, it's Sesshomaru speaking."

"Oh…Sesshomaru…" Wow, didn't that make the phone conversation a tad awkward?

"Listen, there's someone at my apartment who feels he needs to talk to you, so I'm just going to hand him the phone." He said in a bored voice. Before Kagome could even reply, there was a sort of shuffling noise on the other end as the other person seemed to be handed the phone.

"Hello?" Kagome said after a few more moments of silence.

"Kagome?" She gasped in shock…that voice…she could have sworn that it sounded just like…

"Wh-Who is this…?" She whispered, not daring to believe that it was really him.

---

At first, he felt a sharp pain in his chest when she didn't recognize his voice, but then remembered that she had never held a phone conversation with him, and he was sure his voice sounded sort of different over the phone, so it was kind of understandable.

"Kagome…it's me…I-"

"Inuyasha…?" She cut him off in an incredulous whisper. He breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized him, the weight on his heart lifting with ease, letting him breathe again. The tension in his shoulders ebbed away as he leaned his back against the wall behind him.

"Thank the gods, Kagome…" He slid down the wall into a sitting position, closing his eyes in pure relief. "I really missed you, ya know." He mumbled into the speaker, though they both knew that it was an understatement. He heard what might have been either a laugh or a sob come from the other end of the line.

"I missed you, too…but at least I didn't have to wait that long…you did…didn't you…?" He smiled in spite of himself, cracking his eyes open a little as he watched the sun set over the horizon, taking with it his fears and worries. He and Kagome were together again, and that was all that mattered.

"Yeah, but it was worth it." Kagome laughed lightly on the other end of the line. Her laughter was that of a songbird; always so joyful and bright. Inuyasha found that he couldn't feel depressed as long as he heard her laugh, saw her smile.

"It's really good hearing from you. Where are you now?" Inuyasha smiled softly at her question, vaguely wondering what her reaction would be when she found out that they were within walking distance of each other.

"I'm at Sesshomaru's apartment in London. I flew in from Tokyo."

"You're here? That's wonderful!" He loved making her happy, hearing her smile just through her voice, not needing to see it to know that it was there. It made his spirit soar.

"Will you keep talking…just a little longer…? I just want to hear your voice again…I really like hearing it, you know." He didn't have to be able to see her face to knew that she was wearing a soft smile on her lips, and he didn't need to look at her to know that she was beautiful.

"When can I see you again? I still have the clothes mom bought you." He grinned at the memory, no longer a burden on his heart, but a fond reminder of what he was coming back to- he was coming back into Kagome's life, picking up their relationship where they left it off.

"Can we meet tomorrow? In front of Uncommon Grounds?" He mumbled, his eyes softening as he recalled when she got him to try iced coffee (which was another addiction of his, other than ramen and his girlfriend). If he had his way, he would have just sought her out right now, but he didn't want to pry her away from her friends…not now. That, and he was suffering from serious jet lag right now, despite his hanyou blood.

"Of course we can…I really want to see you."

"Ditto…can we meet there at noon…? I swear I won't be late." He whimpered, and he swore that she could see his puppy dog face even through the phone connection.

"That's fine with me…oh…" Inuyasha frowned as he heard the disappointment in Kagome's voice. Had something happened?

"What is it…?" He tensed and prepared for the worst.

"Tara's phone only has one bar of battery left, so she told me to hang it up. But we'll meet at Uncommon Grounds at noon tomorrow, right?" He relaxed, understanding why she had to hang up the phone. He grinned at her question, especially when they both knew the answer to it.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied sincerely, knowing that she knew he meant every word.

"Bye, Inuyasha. I love you."

"I love you, too. Oh, and Kagome-!" He prayed that he caught her before she hung up the phone. Thankfully, he did.

"Yeah?" He smiled softly into the speaker.

"Happy Valentine's Day." He said before he hung up the phone and handed it back to Sesshomaru. He glanced at the clock. 5:34 pm.

Sixteen hours, twenty-six minutes.

He couldn't wait.

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I hope everyone enjoys the chapter! (I'm sorry for not having them meet up physically, but I thought it would be sweet to have them talk over the phone before they saw each other in person.