Evergreen

AN: This is it. The last official chapter.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai still don't belong to me… unless Rumiko Takahashi and Karan Johar decide to gift them to me. Which will never happen, of course.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Kagome thought she was trying to be sneaky as she slowly inched her way out of Inuyasha's arms. After all, what better way to end an up-and-down day on a high note than for father and daughter(apparently estranged – Kagome hadn't known that…) to embrace? But the hanyou caught her subtle shifts and growled softly, tugging her closer.

"Oh no you don't," he muttered, grinning into her hair. "You're not going to run off and leave me alone with my daughter, wench."

"You do know that most fathers would be thrilled to be given alone time with their daughters…?" Kagome commented. Inuyasha uttered a small snicker and shrugged his shoulders.

"So?"

Kagome sighed. "Get off me," she spoke crossly, untangling her arms from around little Kagome and pushing gently at Inuyasha. "I think you and Kagome need to bond."

Inuyasha frowned. "It feels weird…" he muttered, reluctantly releasing his hold on the woman. "To have two Kagomes in the house. We need to give one of you a different name."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Well, you've always called me 'wench'…"

Inuyasha brightened. "Good idea!" He smirked at her and ducked easily when she sent her left arm swinging towards his head. "Too slow, wench," he teased, straightening his spine and glancing down at the girl who had just been transferred to his lap.

Little Kagome stared up at him as if expecting something. He felt himself grow uncomfortable under her gaze and shifted his eyes to Kagome's face. The woman scowled and pointedly gestured towards the girl, refusing to meet the hanyou's eyes. Inuyasha frowned and looked down at his daughter again, only to be met by the same intent stare.

He cleared his throat. The girl's face brightened ever so slightly, and Kagome watched the two with the air of a middle-aged woman watching her favourite soap opera. The woman made a mental note to find a hair-tie as soon as possible – her hair was starting to get on her nerves.

"Kagome." The older Kagome pressed her lips together and willed herself not to respond. "I, uh…" The hanyou fidgeted and cast Kagome a desperate, 'help me' look. She ignored him. This was something he would have to do by himself.

"I… I haven't exactly been the best father to you." Inuyasha kept his gaze trained on his daughter's face, and something about the openness of her expression encouraged him. "In fact, I think I've been as bad as my own father – worse, in fact, because at least he had a good excuse to abandon my mother and me – "

"He was dead, Inuyasha," Kagome interrupted dryly. Inuyasha shot her a small grin.

"Your point? Best excuse there is. 'Oh, sorry kid, I'd help you if I could, but I'm kind of dead…'"

Kagome cleared her throat loudly. "Stop digressing, Inuyasha."

"… what?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "It means stop getting off topic."

"Ah – right, right." Inuyasha directed his eyes towards his daughter again. "Um, sorry about that."

Little Kagome shook her head slowly, a faint smile playing on her lips. Inuyasha fought back a scowl at her expression – it was far too amused. He was trying to apologize to his daughter, dammit! It wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to do!

"So… basically, I wanted to say I'm sorry." The words tumbled out in a rush, blurred together so that neither of the Kagomes could make out the individual words. Little Kagome's smile morphed into a frown as she stared up at him. Inuyasha avoided her gaze, staring sullenly at the opposite wall.

"Could… could you repeat that, please?"

"I'm sorry." Inuyasha enunciated every syllable slowly, something which earned him a glare from Kagome. "I… I shouldn't have treated you like that."

Little Kagome's lips quirked into a smile, and she wrapped her arms around his middle. Inuyasha started, a little uncomfortable about the physical contact. The girl gave his waist a slight squeeze as she buried her face in his chest.

"I 'lready said I f'rgive you," she mumbled into the cloth of his robe. Inuyasha's eyes darted over to Kagome, who was beaming uncontrollably. Hesitantly, he returned his daughter's hug.

"Thanks."

"Everything seems okay now." Kagome let out a long, drawn-out sigh as she leaned back against one of the knotted roots of the Goshinboku. "Everyone's sorted everything out, at least."

"Tell that to Miroku," Inuyasha replied dryly, perched on a root not far from Kagome. "He keeps insisting that being married to Sango means he can grope her whenever he wants to. She isn't having it."

Kagome stifled a giggle with one hand and folded her legs underneath her. "Some things never change. I'm glad."

"I don't think he is," the dog demon pointed out. This time, Kagome couldn't hold back her laughter.

"… I didn't think it was that funny…"

The woman wiped tears from her eyes and sat up. "I just needed a good laugh," she assured him brightly. "Don't worry, you could never be that funny… right?"

"Wench." Inuyasha shot her a mock-glare.

"Dog-breath."

"Hey now, you can't steal insults from that damn wolf!"

"What? I can't help it – it's a good one, don't you think?"

"No, I don't! Don't quote that stinking wolf anymore!"

"Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome sighed, extending a hand towards him. He scowled but obligingly moved closer until she could twirl a strand of his hair around one finger. "You can't still be jealous?"

"Bah! It's not about jealousy! It's a man fight!"

"No kidding, only men could be that thickheaded," she muttered and allowed her hand to drop. He sniffed in annoyance and turned his back to her, his ears twitching with indignation. Kagome stared at his red-clad back, her irritation softening.

"Inuyasha…"

He didn't reply, but he did grunt loudly. The noise informed her that he was listening, but he wasn't quite ready to forgive her yet.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome sang quietly, rising to kneel on her knees. The dog demon still refused to acknowledge her presence. Really, Kagome reflected, he could be so petulant sometimes. She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and pitched her voice higher.

"Inuyasha-a-a…" She tried to cajole him to look at her. He sniffed again.

Kagome fell silent and got to her feet, moving quietly towards him. His entire body stiffened as his ears turned sideways – he could obviously hear her approaching. She paused behind him and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his chest.

"I'm sorry," she murmured into one of his ears. It was much easier for her to ask for his forgiveness than for him to ask for hers. She didn't mind saying sorry if it meant he would talk to her again, after all. It made her feel kind of pathetic, how willing she was to be close to him, but it made her so happy… Kagome sometimes wondered if she had only one motive in life – to love Inuyasha.

He exhaled slowly and lowered his head to press his cheek against one of her hands. "It's okay," he muttered in reply. Kagome sighed contentedly and nuzzled her nose into his soft silver-white hair.

"I missed this," she admitted quietly. "I missed being with you." Even though I tried not to.

Inuyasha turned around and pulled Kagome on top of him. Their position was slightly awkward – Kagome's legs dangled inches away from the ground, and her body was contorted as her head rested in the crook of his neck – but she was too happy to care. Inuyasha shifted his body so that she was able to rest more comfortably in his lap.

"I missed you, too. But you wouldn't let me say it." He released a deep chuckle. "You're so hotheaded sometimes."

"Me, hotheaded?" Kagome laughed against his salty skin. "As if. I'm as cool as a cucumber compared to you."

"…" Kagome could picture Inuyasha's puzzled face, and she sighed.

"Forget it." She pulled her face away from his neck to study his features intently. His golden eyes lowered to meet her own blue-gray ones, and she felt a tickle of happiness in the pit of her stomach at the warmth in his gaze.

"You're…" Was it the right time to bring it up? "You're a lot more open than before," Kagome ventured to say, one hand rising to sneak a stroke at Inuyasha's ears. She was too slow, though – they flicked as soon as her fingers drew near, and she released a sigh of disappointment.

"I know what I want now," he replied simply. "I'm not confused anymore."

Kagome scrutinized his face closely, but she couldn't find any signs of hesitation in his eyes. He was telling the truth – at least, she thought he was.

"I was never confused, you know." She allowed her head to drop back into the crook of his neck. "I always knew I wanted to be with you."

She felt him inhale deeply. "I know," he replied quietly.

"I'm sorry… sorry for being so unreasonable when I came back."

"It's okay." She felt him smile into her hair. "That's what makes you Kagome…"

He was being so sweet… almost too sweet. But Kagome didn't have the heart to be suspicious.

"… the ability to be completely unreasonable about anything and everything."

Okay, so maybe he wasn't being too sweet. She should have known his words were too good to be true. Kagome huffed quietly, but allowed a lazy smile to cross her face as he poked her sides playfully.

"Inuyasha?" she murmured, resting her forehead on his skin. "I… I love you."

His entire body tensed.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same way," she hastily added. "At least, not yet. I know I've only just come back after twelve years… and you chose Kik – "

"My God, Kagome," he groaned, pulling her away from him. "Why do you have to bring Kikyo into everything?"

She stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Because you loved her. You were happy with her." Something ugly churned in the pit of her stomach – even after twelve years, she was still jealous of a dead woman.

His eyes darkened slightly. "Yes… yes, I did love her," he admitted softly. "I was happy with her."

Kagome let her arms drop to her sides and gazed stonily at her dirty, unwashed jeans. She was such a glutton for punishment. Why did she have to bring the touchiest topic up? A topic that would only succeed in making her feel inferior and second-choice again.

"So I'm just a replacement," Kagome spoke in a forced tone. "Right?"

"What?!" Inuyasha looked bewildered and craned his head to meet her gaze. "What the hell made you think that?"

"What am I supposed to think?" Kagome replied, more quietly than he'd expected. It worried him. "You won't shut up about her, right?"

"You're the one who brought her up!" he protested. Kagome ignored him, so wrapped up in her familiar jealousy was she.

"Why did you come looking for me after Kikyo died? Was it so that you'd have someone who looked identical to her?"

"No! I… I…"

"Or maybe," she continued caustically, "since the first one was gone, you'd have to content yourself with your second choice. Right?"

"Kagome! Shut up!"

She fell silent, squeezing her eyes shut. A part of her felt disgusted with what she'd said – a large part. Still, it was for the best that she got all of these feelings out, because they would only hinder their relationship if kept hidden.

"I told you earlier." Inuyasha's voice was earnest, and he sounded so young to her. "Kikyo… I knew Kikyo well. I knew how to make her happy. And the fact that she still wanted to be with me even though the Shikon no Tama wasn't there to turn me full human was… was surprising."

Kagome swallowed and fought down tears. Here was her punishment for being so petty and jealous.

"I knew how to love her. I told you, it was familiar. So I went with her. At least I could be sure of my life with her."

What was that supposed to mean? "You didn't think you could be sure of your life with me?" Kagome questioned. "You… did you doubt how strongly I cared about you?"

"No! Nothing like that!" See, this was why he didn't like speaking so much. People always misinterpreted his words. "I knew what kind of patterns my life would follow with her."

Kagome stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"The point is," he sighed as he pressed onwards, "in Kikyo, I chose familiarity. And I was happy with that. I didn't… I hadn't experienced non-familiarity. Do you understand?"

"No."

Inuyasha shut his eyes. Everything in his nature rebelled against the revelation of his most intimate thoughts, but he needed to reassure Kagome that she wasn't just second place.

"I didn't know what life with you would be like," he muttered. "And then, I thought you wanted to be in your own world - a world that has no place for me."

Kagome's gaze was thoughtful as she looked at the hanyou. "So you were afraid to sacrifice something for me," she spoke quietly. "With Kikyo, you didn't need to sacrifice anything, did you? Not even your demon half, since the Shikon no Tama was gone."

Inuyasha flinched.

"You didn't want to sacrifice your own world, in case I chose my own." Kagome's voice was still hushed. "But that isn't fair, Inuyasha. Relationships are about compromises. Even if you didn't notice it, you were still making compromises for Kikyo. Just smaller ones than you'd expected." The hanyou stared at her through narrowed eyes.

Kagome rubbed one hand across her eyes. "So that's why you chose Kikyo? Because you were afraid of change?" she asked him.

Inuyasha lowered his gaze. When she put it like that…

"That was part of it," he admitted. "But you have to understand that I truly did love Kikyo. I was so used to loving her that I couldn't even begin to love someone else."

Kagome exhaled. She remembered all the times Inuyasha had gone running after Kikyo during their quest. She'd always known that he harbored feelings for the undead priestess. At least he'd admitted it now.

"Can you begin now?" she asked him. If he was still pledging part of himself to Kikyo, dead as she was, they couldn't have a future together.

"I… I think so." Trying to lighten the mood, Inuyasha tapped her nose gently. "I don't think it will be so hard." Kagome smiled faintly. Yes, she was still troubled that Inuyasha had loved Kikyo for so long – but was he really any different from herself? Longing after a man in a different era… it had always rankled her how she had never been able to give up on him. Now, it made her proud. Her love for him had lasted for so long.

"Kagome?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to say something…"

"Are you going to say something cheesy?" Kagome demanded. Inuyasha looked blank.

"What?"

"Oh, forget it. Carry on." Kagome waved one hand vaguely. Inuyasha grinned slightly and caught her hand, drawing it close. He pressed it against his cheek, then against his eyes, and then against his chest. She felt the rapid thrum of his heart underneath the layers of fabric.

"You… you're the only one I see now, Kagome."

She could feel herself melting against her will. Was he speaking the truth? She fervently hoped so.

"Oh God, you did say something cheesy," she murmured, but more to annoy him than out of annoyance herself. Inuyasha cast her a frustrated glance.

"Damn it, this is why you're so hard to predict, wench! Can't you just be happy?"

"Oh, I am," she assured him with a half-smile. It had been four days since she had passed through the well and ended up in the Sengoku Jidai again. She hadn't even thought of the modern era since then…

Kagome's smile faded a little. "I wonder how mama and Souta are doing."

Inuyasha watched her quietly. "Did you try the well again?"

She nodded. She'd tried it only half an hour ago – it still didn't work.

"Don't cry," he reminded her as he drew her closer to him again. She let him. "I don't like it when you cry. It smells bad."

She sniffled and lightly poked his side. "Shut up."

"Kagome…" She raised her head to stare into his eyes. Inuyasha looked vaguely troubled. "I… I'll give them the message, all right? I'll tell them that you missed them, and that you were always thinking of them."

Her heart fell. Of course, Inuyasha, being a hanyou, would most likely be able to see her mother and Souta. His lifespan would probably stretch on for five hundred years more. Her life, on the other hand…

She fought back tears, and heard an alarmed growl come from the man next to her. Inuyasha used one clawed finger to tilt her head upwards. His face was mere inches from hers.

"Don't cry," he repeated. "Please, don't cry. I don't ever want to make you cry again."

She smiled slightly. "You know that will never stick."

He looked annoyed. "Don't you trust my word, wench? If I promise not to make you cry, then I won't!"

"Oh, Inuyasha," she sighed softly. "Of course I trust you. You know that."

His angry expression softened. "Yeah. I know that."

Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him again and felt his chest rumble as he let out a contented growl. Kagome closed her eyes and pressed one cheek against his chest, so that her ear was positioned right above his heart. The steady beat comforted her almost as much as the arms around her and the lips at her hair.

It would take time for them to learn how to love each other properly again. She wasn't worried about that. Even if it took years – if she was old and wrinkled by the time Inuyasha finally said those three important words to her – it didn't matter.

At least she was back with him. Kagome idly wondered how her professors at university had reacted to her sudden disappearance. She wasn't quite able to stifle her ungraceful snort. Inuyasha shifted at the sound, evidently confused.

"What're you laughing for?" he demanded. Kagome grinned against his chest.

"It's nothing important." Another snicker escaped her, and she felt herself being pulled away from his body so that he could scrutinize her. The hanyou looked put out.

"Just spill it out," he snapped. Kagome fought down her smile and shook her head, her laughter fading.

"It's really nothing," she assured him. He grunted and allowed her to snuggle against him again. Kagome turned her body so that her back was against his chest, and he loosely wrapped one arm around her waist. Her head rested just below his shoulder, and her hands clasped the arm around her waist.

"K'gome?" he mumbled.

"Mm?" she replied distantly, her eyes glazing over as she stared ahead. "What is it?"

He hesitated, and then seemed to make up his mind about something. "I…"

Kagome blinked and turned her face so that she could catch sight of his expression. He looked unusually serious, and almost… bashful?

"Go on," she encouraged him gently.

"I… oh, forget it," he muttered, turning his head away from hers. His ears twitched self-consciously. "It's nothing."

Kagome was quiet. She had the feeling that what he'd had to say was far from nothing. Still, she allowed her body to slump into his once more, and inhaled deeply. Even if he hadn't said it out loud, she could still imagine he'd said it in her head, couldn't she?

AN: Lame, lame, lame. I know. Sorry! Fluff is… oddly hard for me to write. With Kagome and Inuyasha, at least. I tried really hard to keep them in character, but I don't think I succeeded.

I've posted these three chapters at the same time, but on the other hand, the epilogue will take quite a while. Sorry, guys.