Chapter 11 - Fixing

It had been a week and a half since Inuyasha and Kagome made up. After that, no sights of Kikyo were reported and Inuyasha didn't act strange, not even once. He was back to his normal self: grudging, short-fused, impatient, self. Kagome couldn't be happier.

As the days went by, they got even closer to each other and slept together every night, except for one, when Inuyasha felt he would lose his self control if he continued to lay with her, touching her without removing her clothes and feeling her scent, but not doing anything more. That night he went to the roof, mumbling and cursing, but, after a while, he figured he would have to take matters into his own hands, literally, and went to the forest.

Shippo was set to leave the next day and Inuyasha was busy "making something", as he told Kagome. He didn't want her to know what it was and told her to keep away from the house and not come back until he said so. He told her to go to Sango's house and spend the night there, since he thought it would take him all day and all night to "fix" what he wanted to fix.

Kagome protested and pouted, but since she knew tomorrow night was the first night they would be alone, she thought it might have something to do with it and smiled, thinking he was really sweet to be thinking of something for her on that one special night. She kissed him goodbye, lingering for a few seconds, leaving a light-headed hanyou.

"Oi, runt! Get your ass in here", he yelled, after Kagome was gone. He could smell Shippo nearby and could use some help.

"What?" Shippo answered, stopping at the front door.

"Did you clean up your room?" Inuyasha was on his haunches, gathering some things on the floor.

"Yes, why?" Shippo asked with a raised brow.

"Because you're leaving tomorrow and I would like for you to keep your shit in place. Kagome wouldn't want to have to deal with your mess and I don't want her to be busy doing that."

Shippo sighed. "My room's clean. Can I go now?"

"Yes, get out."

After Shippo was gone, Inuyasha started analyzing something on the door. First step: done. He thought, smirking.

Kagome was helping Sango with the laundry when Miroku came in.

"Hello girls. How are you two in this fine morning?" He said smiling.

Kagome just smiled back at him and Sango sighed. "What do you want, monk?"

"I just came by to admire your beauty, my dear Sango, and see what you two are up to. Any news, Kagome-chan?"

Sango glared at him, but Kagome answered. "No, Miroku." She knew what he was asking and did her best not to blush and didn't even look at him when she spoke.

"Ah, I see. Well, I guess I should be leaving them, heh." He knew he wasn't going to get the information he wanted and staying there would only get him in a bigger trouble. He stood up and waved at them.

"Stop right there, Miroku. You take the kids, Kagome and I are going to the hot springs."

Miroku sighed but knew he couldn't get out of it. "Okay, dear."

The women made their way to the hot spring, passing by Kagome's and Inuyasha's house to spy, getting a loud "GO AWAY!" from the hanyou. They dipped their feet in the water and relaxed when they settled in comfortably.

"So, like you were saying before Miroku interrupted us, you think he's doing something for tomorrow night?"

"Ah, yes. Well, why else would he want me away from the house the whole day? I don't know, I might be wrong, we both know Inuyasha is not the romantic type, but…"

"But he's never had a mate, right?" Sango said, smiling.

Kagome smiled back. "I guess not… he is a lot sweeter when it's just the two of us, but I guess after we… mate, things will be different, won't they?"

Sango nodded solemnly. "Yes, they most definitely will. But that's a good thing. You two have waited a long time to be together, and while it might be difficult to become lovers after so many years of friendship, most of them being spent apart, the love you two have for each other will ease the transition. And after that, it will only get better", Sango said, smiling.

Kagome looked at her friend, thinking about how much she waited to be with Inuyasha, and had to agree. Their relationship and their life would only get better, now that they were reunited and Kikyo had been dealt with.

After soaking for a couple of hours, Kagome and Sango headed back to the latter's hut, again passing by the former's house, and, again, getting yelled at. They met Shippo on their way and he told them he was going to leave at dawn and asked to sleep at Sango's, since Inuyasha had thrown a hissy fit when he asked if he could spend the night in his and Kagome's house.

They started dinner and Inuyasha joined them a short time after. Kagome smiled and kissed him on the cheek when he came in, and he blushed and pretended to not care, after he saw Sango's and Miroku's gazes. Kagome knew he wasn't fond of public displays of affection, but she couldn't help herself from feeling extremely happy to see him.

"Hey, how's the… work going?" Kagome asked him.

They were all sitting and starting to eat and Inuyasha spoke with a mouthful of fish, not looking at her. "Good."

"That's all you're going to say, isn't it?"

"Yep."

Kagome smiled and went back to eating.

The group discussed all sorts of things, never mentioning what Inuyasha was doing in the house. They talked about how calm things had been, how they hadn't heard of any attacks lately, and, although it seemed odd, they were glad to have a little time off. Sango complained, saying how much she missed all the action since her twins were born, and Kagome told her she could stay with the kids when something came up, so that Sango could go. Miroku wasn't too happy about that, but said it was something they would discuss when the opportunity came, but Sango, as well as the others, knew she would get her way.

Inuyasha stood up, ready to leave, and Kagome said she would walk him to the edge of the village. They held each other's hand and Kagome would occasionally brush her arm on his, desperate to be closer to him.

"So, you really think everything will be done by tomorrow?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Kagome smiled and stopped walking. She figured they were in a private enough spot, and it was as good as they could get at that moment. She was holding both of his hands and leaned on him, kissing him softly. She wanted much more than a soft kiss, but she figured Inuyasha wouldn't want that, out in the open, even with no one around. She was afraid he was going to push her away anyway, but she couldn't wait any longer. Spending the whole day without him and knowing what would happen the next day made her very anxious and very willing to be close to him, to feel him and touch him.

She was very surprised when he not only didn't push her away, but also kissed her back, letting go of her hands and putting his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. Kagome's knee almost bucked and she gave in to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and tilting her head to the side, to deepen the kiss. She heard him groan in approval and almost gasped in his mouth when she felt him getting hard. He was ready and so was she.

After a couple of minutes they parted. Inuyasha was almost panting and leaned his forehead on hers. "Tomorrow. One more day."

Kagome smiled broadly, thinking she would burst with happiness. "I know."

He kissed her lips once again and ran off. Kagome stayed outside for a little longer, sighing and thanking God for everything He had given her. Her life was almost perfect and she couldn't ask for more. She just had to wait another day.

Kagome didn't get much sleep that night. She was too anxious, too excited. This would probably be the best day of her life and she couldn't wait to see Inuyasha. He had told her she could come by after lunch. So she had waved Shippo goodbye at dawn and had to spend the whole morning fidgeting, biting her lip and pacing around.

"Kagome, calm down!" Sango told her. "Here, hold this child for me, maybe you'll two will be good for each other." She handed Seichii to her. He had been giddy all morning, wanting to play and explore, and Sango had her hands full already, cleaning her hut. Kagome nodded and smiled at the baby. It was a good distraction, that lasted for about half an hour.

"Sango, I can't wait anymore. I'm going", she said, handing the baby back to his mother.

"But Kagome! You'll ruin the surprise!"

"I don't care! All I want is him, not some surprise!" She was already at the door when Sango grabbed her arm.

"I have an idea. Don't you think you would like to take a bath before? And don't you think it would be better if you took that bath away from him, so that when he sees you you'll be ready?"

Kagome stared at her grinning friend and scowled at her. "You're right. Damn you!"

Sango chuckled and called Miroku, who, wisely, obeyed his wife's orders and stayed with the children.

After a short bath, Kagome's nerves were better, but she still wanted to go straight to her house. Sango thought it was as good as it was going to get and, besides, it was almost lunchtime, so Inuyasha couldn't get too angry. She left Kagome near the house and went to her own, promising not to let anyone bother them for the next few days and winked.

Kagome took a long breath and headed to the front door. It was closed and she couldn't hear anything coming from the inside. She pushed the door and it was… locked? What the…

Before she could knock, she heard sounds coming from the inside and the door opened.

"I knew you would sneak in, sneaky wench", he said with a smirk.

She got butterflies in her stomach just by seeing him, but she was too curious to just stand there and daydream. "What did you do, Inuyasha?"

He grinned and took her in. "See for yourself."

Kagome got in and Inuyasha closed the door. There was a makeshift lock on it, made of wood, and, again, she was in awe of his skills. He really could fix anything. "How did you do this?"

Inuyasha was a little flustered, seeing how she was looking at him, with admiration. "Keh. It's not like no one's ever done it before."

"I know, but it's not usual to see those around… but I guess I know why you wanted something like this in here and I approve it", she said with a blush and a smile.

Inuyasha did the same, but turned around so that she couldn't see his face. He took her hand again and showed her to their room. He had gathered flowers for her and put them in vases he had gotten from the villagers, placing them in various places around the house. She also noticed the house was clean and everything was in place. When they got to the room, the bed was neatly arranged, with new pillows and fresh sheets, and the light breeze flowed through the curtain. Kagome saw a small box on the bed and she turned to him, with the happiest face he had ever seen on her.

"Did you do all of this… for me?"

Inuyasha's blush darkened. "Who else would I do it for?"

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He pushed her away slowly and she grunted.

"There's something else. Go open it", he said, gesturing to the box on the bed.

She looked at him and walked to the bed, taking and opening the box. She gasped when she saw a beautiful hair comb. Truthfully, she never wore those. But he had never given her a present and the gesture touched her more than she could expect. She turned to him with tears falling from her eyes.

"Inuyasha… it is so beautiful. Thank you." She kissed him and then looked at the comb again, analyzing it thoroughly.

"Keh. It's no big deal. I know people in your era give presents all the time and I know the husband gives something to the wife when they get married. Although we are not married, we are going to be mates, so… I wanted to give you something."

She was wiping the tears from her eyes. So that's why he went to that village last week and told me not to come. He was looking for something for me… he'll probably have to work his butt off to pay for it, but he did it anyway, without me even asking…

"Inuyasha, you didn't need to do this. I don't need anything, you know that. I have all I need."

"Did you not like it? Because I can take it back and get you something else." He averted his gaze and looked hurt.

"No, of course not! It's mine now and I love it. I just don't want to cause you trouble, that's all."

"Keh! You call this trouble? No, trouble would be making a wench sad, trouble would be making a wench cry. Wenches like presents. So there you go." She smiled and carefully put the comb back in its box, then put in on her dresser and turned to Inuyasha.

"You have a very, very happy wench."

He smiled. "Good. It didn't take me all this time to get everything done, but I wanted to make you wait a few more hours." He was grinning and Kagome knew it wasn't true. He was probably just nervous and wanted to calm down before meeting her. He leaned down to kiss her when…

"INUYASHA!"

"For the love of… WHY do they hate me? WHY? Every FUCKING time! And I thought the lock would be enough!"

"I know, but we have to see what's going on", Kagome said, while following Inuyasha out the door, trying to find Miroku.

"What the fuck, monk?!"

Miroku was panting. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha. But that village… the one we promised to look after… a man just came running here, he's almost dying. Kaede is taking care of him, but we need to go, now. A lot of yokai… but no spiders, thankfully."

Inuyasha growled and cursed, until Kagome took his arm. "Hey, I'm going with you guys. We'll take care of it right away and get back soon."

"No, you stay. You wait here for me. I'll be right back." He kissed her and told the monk to follow him.

Kagome went inside, dejectedly, and threw herself on the bed. "Not again… is this some kind of sign or something?" She groaned and decided to take a nap. She hadn't slept much the previous night and she wanted to be very much awake when Inuyasha got back. So she slept and she dreamed…

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Kagome ran as fast as she could. The cold air filled her lungs and pushed her forward. She never looked back. She couldn't even think of her friends. She just wanted to escape the pain, the absolute devastation she felt. Her biggest fear was right in front of her face: Inuyasha didn't love her. He loved Kikyo.

She got to the Well and immediately jumped. It had to work. Fate couldn't be that cruel; it had already kept her from the place she wanted to be and now it couldn't deny her her only option, the only thing that would soothe her pain. She didn't know what she would do if she couldn't go back to her era. Staying would be torture. She didn't have a place, a home there, if it wasn't by his side.

So she jumped. She prayed and closed her eyes, pleading to the Gods. Her feet touched the ground and she closed her eyes. She looked up to absolute darkness, but the smells gave it away. She was home.