The Day After Tomorrow

AUTHOR: Angelhart
GENRE: romance/hurt/comfort
STORY: continuation
STATUS: incomplete
RATING: M
DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi / the television series are produced by Sunrise.

A few author's notes: Thanks to AM78 for the weapon history lesson. One can't know everything ;) Alterations in chapter 8 are made so it fits the timeline. I also would like to say thanks to guest reviewer Ella for pointing out the stake word mistake in her review and about the flow of the story in chapter 4. Sadly she didn't log in so I could thank her and reply to her personally. Dear Ella, you must have misread the diary chapter. The diary is old, but when found it was empty. The chapter explains that. The one who wrote in it is from a more future timeline.

On with the new chapter. Enjoy!

Spoiler alert: A part of a scene in the last episode of the Final Act is used in this chapter, although altered. For those who have never seen that episode (yet), thou are warned.

Chapter 10

She was surrounded by darkness. An infinite blackness without any light. She couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or closed. She blinked a couple of times to make sure they were actually open. She was floating in the nothingness. The only sound her own heartbeat that thrummed in her ears. She couldn't remember and a fright inside her altered the steady rhythm in a faster beat.

She was holding her bow in her right hand. She looked at it and a strange feeling of familiarity entered her mind. A strange sense of déjà vu.

A light. It hovered in the distance. Bright pink. She gasped as she realized what it was. The Shikon Jewel. The arrow was still pierced through it. Her arrow.

No… Had it all been a dream? Another dream? Was that her fate? To relive and live parts of her life again and again for eternity? Was she still trapped inside? How long had she been here? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years…?

She shook her head in disbelieve. No. No. No… It had felt so real. It was so real. Her life. Unable to get back to Inuyasha. School. Her job. The funeral of her beloved grandfather. Meeting Sesshomaru. But hadn't that other dream not felt real too? Another sequence of her life.

Was the Jewel causing them or were they conjured up by her own mind that tried to process her entrapment in its own way, so she wouldn't lose her mind? If that the latter was so, it wasn't helping. Her sanity was on the brink of an abyss. Almost sliding into an equally terrifying darkness.

Suddenly a voice called out to her. A voice so familiar, so welcome.

"Kagome!"

She was almost afraid to turn her head into the direction of the sound of her name. Frightened that it wasn't real. For how could it be real?

But she did look. She couldn't resist the urge to do so. The hope inside her heart had not died, and as her name was called again she knew that little speck of hope would never die. That he would find her, like he always did. And she recalled every event of him saving her, holding her, aiding her. Like a slideshow of images they passed in her mind.

He was reaching out to her, Tessaiga in his right hand – where it belonged. His name was a whisper as it rolled of her lips. Almost hesitantly. Deep in her heart a fear still rising that it would be a cruel joke. "Inuyasha…"

"Kagome."

It wasn't until she was in his arms that she felt the tension of her body disappear. Her eyes filling up with tears of happiness. She clutched on to him so tight that even as a half demon he must have felt his lungs being crushed.

She looked at him and even though his face was a blur through her tears she could see the joy in his eyes too. You're here. You're really here. And she felt his warm lips pressing on hers. A kiss so welcome and so long overdue. This is not an illusion. He's here. Inuyasha… I wanted to see you…

When he pulled away and turned them around they were facing the Shikon Jewel. An event that seemed from so long ago. But it must have been a dream. A long horrible dream… For his arm was around her still and was real. A reassurance in the darkness that surrounded them. He was there with her. And they were going to end this. Together. The dark nightmare Naraku had caused with his lust for power. It was going to end now. Forever.

She knew this. The memory so vivid in her mind. A scene that had played in her last dream. It was the answer. The only right one. The salvation to all their misery.

"Shikon Jewel. I am ready to make my wish." And she felt Inuyasha's hand pressing against her as the Jewel reacted aggressively; bright pink light emitting and trying to blind them. The gesture to assure her they were going to be fine. With you by my side, I can face anything… Without him finding me I would have given into my fear. I would be forever lost in my own nightmares. And holding him it all faded away. She wasn't afraid anymore. She wasn't lonely anymore.

"Shikon Jewel, disappear. Forever!"

The Jewel shattered before them. A peaceful light engulfing them and the darkness that surrounded them. It felt warm.

"It is over…"

"Yeah. It's over."

"Kagome-chan!" Sango and Shippou cried out, as they arrived in a pillar of light. Descending from the well. She wanted to hug them, but her right hand was held firmly by clawed fingers that were reluctant to let go. And truth be told her fingers weren't ready to entangle themselves from his, either.

Kagome hugged the little kitsune with her free arm. The little fox demon shedding tears in her embrace.

"You were gone for so long. We waited, for you to return. The well it disappeared," she heard Sango say.

"How long was I gone?" she asked looking at her friends.

"Three days," Miroku answered.

"I thought we would never going to see you again," the kitsune sniffed.

"Inuyasha went to get you," Sango said.

Kagome turned to face the hanyou. His eyes full of love as he looked at her. Her friends must have noticed it. The change in them both as they looked upon another – the silence. Sango pulled Shippou free from Kagome's arm.

"Come," she said. "Let's see if we can help the village. They're safe now."

Miroku followed them. Aiding Sango in stopping the protest of the kid demon who didn't want to leave.

She felt him squeezing her hand, before he released it. I'm back. I'm here.

"The Shikon Jewel is gone now."

"Yes." My job is done. We gathered the shards, we fought against Naraku and ended the Jewel's existence, taking away the temptation to obtain it from demons as well as humans. "Are you sad?" She asked then. "That now you won't be able to become a full demon?"

"No. I learned that the demon I wanted to be, wasn't mine to control anyway. I didn't want that."

She smiled. "I'm glad that it doesn't make you sad. I like you just the way you are."

He returned her smile.

"I guess…" she began softly, this is it… "my job is done." She looked at the well, standing in the now barren land. A huge part of the forest and land surrounding the village had been destroyed by Naraku's evil Miasma. It would take a long time for the ground to be fertile again.

"A-are you going home?"

She looked at him. His ears were flat and his expression a bit sad. She turned her head back towards the well. Somehow I get the feeling that if I do, I cannot go back. As she faced Inuyasha again she asked: "Do you want me to go home?"

"That is your world…"

That isn't an answer. Her heart was pounding as her eyes held his gaze. This is it. I have to choose between worlds. Deep in my heart I have known that this day would come. She couldn't help it, her face turned to look at the well once more. My family is there. Mom, grandpa, Sōta. She gulped. My mother… I think she knows. She knows that if I won't come back that I am here. That I am happy. But… Looking at the hanyou before her she realized she wanted to hear him say it. Her lips still felt the warm touch of his. A gentle sweet kiss. The love was there. Would the timid half demon voice it out now? Or leave her standing on that edge?

"Your family is there."

"Yes," she confirmed in a whisper. But you are here.

"Kagome…"

She watched the ears pinned straight again. His eyes held a determination like she had seen inside the Jewel.

"Don't go."

Her chest tightened. Her breathing halted.

"Please… Stay. With me."

Say it… Her mind wanted to scream the words at him like the sit commands she had yelled out to him so often. Say it. She closed her eyes for a moment to force her lungs to take that needed breath.

"Kagome… I love you."

Her eyes lit up at the words. Her lips curled into a smile before she noticed his feet moved and closed the distance between them so quickly. She was in his embrace and crushed so tight she couldn't even form the syllables that would make the same proclamation.

I love you.

Don't ever let me go. She realized that she had spoken the words out loud and not only in her mind when he replied softly with a "never".

And she followed him as he took her hand. Passing the bald trees and withered bushes. Taking her to the one token that stood there still as barrier against all evil – and time. Still proud. Still tall. Still green.

They would always return here. This place of marking. Because that is where it all started. And her heart pounded faster, only this time due to a new anxiety. She could see it in his eyes as he turned around and faced her. She beat him to it, grabbing his face and kissing him. It didn't feel too fast. It was right. Here. Now.

He was holding her in his arms and she suppressed a giggle when the hand on her lower back moved lower as the kiss became more intense. Their mouths opening so they could taste one another.

Before she could even blink she was lying on the fire rat. Het school shirt gone and lying in the grass. Her bra on top of it. She didn't even recall aiding him in taking it off. Or him taking of the fire rat. Or lying down for that matter. Her face and chest flushing a deep red due to his staring. A hot gaze full of lust. Although she answered his gaze with the same want he was surprised when her hands stopped him when he lowered himself.

Confusion turned to understanding when he noticed her tugs on his obi and hadagi. Her desire to feel his skin against her own. Her fingers untied the obi while he pulled the hadagi free from his hakama and removed it. Watching him watching her intensely, her fingers - now trembling with slight nervousness - pulled the zipper of her skirt open and lifting her hips she pulled it down. Clawed fingers took over half way and removed the article completely from her body.

The warm hands returned to her hips. Her legs opened to invite him. She tried hard not to think of her almost nakedness. The jitters that turned her organs into jelly. The stain on her panties from the moisture of her arousal that she knew was there for him to see.

She turned her eyes to his masculine chest as he leaned over her. Her hands grazing over the flawless skin that she had bandaged so many times over. Her focus not on his face she was caught off guard when he kissed her. A brush of his lips on hers followed by a wet tongue that asked entrance. She opened her mouth gladly to receive the appendage. Eager to let him explore as it coaxed hers into play.

She wanted to feel them. Her truth in this new reality. That he was actually here. That all else just had been a bad dream. Those long years of absence. The longing. Being trapped in her own era, instead of being here with him. The well not opening again. She moved her hands upwards. Over his shoulders, his throat, his face. Up through his soft hair that tried to tangle her fingers. Soft fur then met her fingertips. They quivered because of her touch. There was a deep moan against her mouth when she started to stroke. The tips, the base of fur, inside the pink that felt like velvet.

His pelvis was grinding against her. The prove of his desire for her forming behind the fabric of his hakama. The kiss so sweet turned into one of strong hunger. Lips pressing so hard every breath for both of them was a struggle whenever one would give the other a reprieve. Then his mouth wrenched itself from her. Lips following a path downwards. A tongue licking a sensitive spot on her throat that made her release a whimper and pushed her breasts against his chest, her hips moving up to push against his. She voiced his name and her left leg moved over his right. A foot brushing over him and holding him captive.

A hand reached there first. Following the curve, kneading it before moving over it. Fingers teasing the puckered bud on top of it. A mouth soon followed. Lips, tongue, fangs paying attention to the other neglected one.

Birds flew up from the trees surrounding them when her cries and moans of pleasure filled the air. She was so ready. Her body was so ready.

She felt rushed not knowing why. An eerie feeling that if he wouldn't claim her soon it would all disssapear. It frightened her. The change in her did not go unnoticed. He had raised his head and looked at her. She grabbed his right hand and pushed it down, curled his fingers underneath the hem.

"Please," she spoke in need.

He moved, but wasn't fast enough. Around her the world began to shatter. Somehow Naraku's evil laughter filled her mind.

No...

No!

She grabbed his shoulders, urging him to move on top of her. There was lust in his eyes, but also concern. He didn't understand.

"Hurry, please..."

Her arms embraced... nothingness.

She was alone once again in the darkness. The only thing that felt real and remained was the fire rat beneath her as she sat up. A redness in a pool of black.

No!

Was she inside the Jewel again. Had she never escaped? Had it been another dream? Was she really forever trapped in there? No escape. A world with no existence of time, and endless ocean of darkness. Forever.

No. I can't… I can't. She started crying not caring about her weakness. Take me, she begged inside her mind to anyone, anything that would desire to stake a claim on her life. She wasn't Midoriko. She could not do this over and over again. Her body was already tired.

Inuyasha… Inuyasha… … … …

Darkness disappeared as her eyes fluttered open. Vision still blurry from tears that had gathered in them. She blinked them away. Some glided over her face others retracted back inside her eyes.

Not again…

A room. She was lying in a bed. Cool silk sheets covered her ankles and feet. They had covered her completely before, but had apparently been pushed back by tossing limbs. Beneath her was redness. She recognized it. A feeling tightened her heart like a hand had grabbed it and squeezed it.

The fire rat.

She let her left hand brush over it. It felt real. It was there. As were her tears as they burned behind her eyes. Her body quivering. A fright within her. Another dream… Not another dream… Please… An eternity of dreams. A place that wasn't ruled by time. Her own little hell.

She noticed she was clothed differently. Not her school uniform. An odd gown covered her upper body and only a fraction of her lower body. No undergarments. She was almost naked. Her left hand tugged on it. The fabric was coarse.

But even though the sheets were at the footboard of the bed and the gown barely covered her she wasn't cold. Something else was draped over her as well. Her right hand was still clutching to it. It took even great effort from her part to find movement in her fingers to release it.

She looked at it with curiosity. Laying so close to her. Next to her, on top of her. It looked so familiar. Her mind walking through memories of where she had seen it before. It was soft. Extremely so. Warm white fur. It was long. Thick. It held a scent that somehow calmed her. Also familiar.

"You wouldn't let go of it when I brought you here."

Kagome looked up. He was standing at the foot of the large bed. Dressed in a his han-kimono. The big, long yellow obi replaced with a short simple white one that was tied to the front. His armored plate and shoulder spikes were gone. Something was amiss as well. She then realized where she had seen it. The furry boa. On his right shoulder as it draped over him.

She was so confused. She sat up and looked around. Dream. Reality. Dream. They flowed into each other leaving her dazed. How could she even know what was real anymore? Her mind so often the battlefield of illusions to hold her captive. She grabbed her forehead, trying to ease the relentless throbbing with just the mere touch.

Looking down her eyes fell onto the gown that was covering her further naked body. There was a scent on her she could even pick up with her own human nose. A sterile scent.

This place was real. He was real. The gown was real. The bed was real. The fire rat beneath her was real. She had battled against Naraku. She had been taken by the Jewel and been trapped in that darkness. Inuyasha had saved her. Together they had ended it all. She had made the wish. Only… She had been thrown back into her own time right after the Jewel had shattered. And he had been sent back to his. Their fate bounded by that one pink marble, now gone so was the bond that had allowed them to travel back and forth through time.

"I remember…" Red… Darkness… "I was in my car." Bits and pieces of memories her mind seemed to have forced out returned to her slowly. She had paid a visit to the man once again. Both eyeing a sunset that had made reminiscent the past. A time were she was still with them. All her friends from that era. She had left him there, by the lake. Taking the highway home again.

"There was an accident." Before her. It happened in front of her. Smoke as it cleared revealing the redness of brake lights. "I-I… I couldn't stop in time."

She gasped as her body flinched like one would do when one would fall inside a dream. The sound, the feel, of metal crashing into metal.

Then darkness.

Her eyes moved up to gaze at the demon man before her. "Did I… die?"

"Yes."

"You revived me." Her eyes fell on the swords that were attached to his waist. Tenseiga…

He did not reply to that. The answer would be too obvious. She knew that. He had already verified that she had died. She could not be here – alive – were it not for his aid. Looking at her gown again she realized it was a hospital gown. She had died in a hospital. Had he sought her out? Had he come to visit? An amusing thought entered her mind of him being in the hospital around visiting hours. It was so ridiculous she discarded it immediately. However the event had taken place she had somewhat doubt that it had went smoothly.

"Thank you," she voiced softly. There was no reply from him, but something strange happened with the pelt that was partly resting on her legs. It was almost as if it moved. The fur like a cat nudging it's head. She thought she had imagined it and placed her right hand on it again. Although to humans eyes it remained still she could feel movement between her hand. A rippling movement like those of muscles.

She had hold onto it once when he was her guide in Naraku's body. She remembered clutching onto it tightly as he flew them towards Inuyasha and Rin. "What is this thing anyway?"

"It is a part of my body."

"I-it's alive?" She wanted to retract her hand, but somehow couldn't. She was mesmerized by the feeling of the rippling movement beneath her fingers and thick fur. Like perhaps the body of a serpent.

"It is a part of my body," he repeated again as if stating the obvious. It was part of his body so of course it was alive, for he was alive.

Apparently that was the answer she had to work with. She had seen him use it once to strangle Inuyasha with it. It appeared to be extendable. The place it occupied normally on his right shoulder was the place his demon dog form had that extra furry layer on him. A shocking and freaky thought entered her. Were demon body parts detachable? She had seen him use arms to make up for the loss of his left arm in battles. A human one, a dragon claw. Could he just use other body parts too? Just click them on like Lego?

"Does… does it bleed?"

"Yes."

She recalled seeing it stained with blood before, but she had always thought his shoulder or chest perhaps were injured underneath it. Looking at his figure she realized he wore that spiked armor and that only protected his left shoulder. Was the pelt used as a kind of armor as well? "You can feel it if I do this?" She gave the fur a caress like one would when stroking a pet.

"Yes." His voice had become harsher and his eyes widened.

Looking at it, it took a couple of seconds for her to let the meaning of it all kick in her brain. O. My. Gods. I have… She pushed if off her immediately and shoved it away from her body. Have I…? Have I been… O. no…. She gulped the saliva that got stock in her throat suddenly. She had been dreaming about Inuyasha. It had been a wet dream and she had been hugging that fluff thing that was apparently a part of his body. It had surrounded her, been on top of her. Between her legs even? O gods… The only thing she did recall in her sleeping state was that she had felt so warm and snug.

She looked up to him even though she felt her cheeks turning crimson in a faster rate before she could even utter the first syllable of her apology. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." O gods. Where was a windtunnel to suck you in a vortex when you needed one. Tenseiga could revive a person only once and she was just about to die from embarrassment.

He held her gaze and although he appeared to be in an emotionless calm state – his usual pose – she could swear that there was a hint of amusement in his eyes because of her realization.

Maybe she had died and was still dead and in hell. Maybe a punishment for aiding demons. It sure felt like it was one of hell's tortures. And the way he was staring at her. Those piercing eyes, a face without expression. He was just standing there, watching her. It was making her more uneasy and she had not thought that would be even possible.

The awkward silence was making the air thick and she found it hard to breathe. She pulled her eyes free from his intense gaze and stared at the bedding. "Is there a bathroom?"

A movement made her eyes look up again. He was stretching his left arm and pointing into a direction behind him. The door of the bedroom was slid open and there was a long hallway. He was pointing to the right, apparently the direction she needed to go.

She moved her arms through the long sleeves of the fire rat that was lying on the bed. Pulling it up and arranging it so it covered her. Sliding off the bed she hesitated for a moment before grabbing hold of the pelt. She tried hard to avoid touching the muscle beneath it. The fur was fortunately long enough for her fingers to hold on to.

As she passed him she pushed the big furry thing in his hands. "I'm sorry," she muttered quickly once more before taking some quick steps towards the direction he had pointed. She could feel his eyes burning on her as she walked. She looked back for a second to verify that. Is he checking me out?! He had tilted his head slightly and his eyes followed her hurried steps.

Moving her right hand to wrap the red suikan even tighter around herself, making sure every bit of skin was covered she upped her pace. Coming to a crossing she heard him say "left" before she disappeared quickly around the corner.

For this little chapter I had to do some fluff research. Sesshomaru's boa/pelt thing is sort of the biggest Inuyasha mystery ever. It is apparently a part of his body. The manga and anime shows (in one event!) it does come off. It is not his tail. It is a part of his true demon form. It can bleed and it does grow. He can use it as an extra appendage. For example he used it to grab hold onto Inuyasha in the tomb of their father.

I pictured it being like some furry snake. I held a real live snake once and I can tell you it feels really weird. Like some big rubber muscle that continues to move beneath your fingers. Like rippling movements. If the boa (or mokomoko as some call it) is a part of his body and if it can bleed I assume he can feel if something happens to it. If he can use it as an extra appendage and can form it so it can grab things it must have a big muscle or more muscles inside it as well. That is why I used my own snake experience as an example. It seems like the best fit.

Because it is discussed so much and is a big part of who he is I devoted this chapter to Sesshomaru's fluff. And I can tell you I had a lot of fun doing so.

Reviews are most welcome.