Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. The rest is mine.
Epilogue
Nearly two years later...
"Oh, oh, oh! Can we stop here first? Please? We still have time before the dinner reservation, right?"
Kagome looked over her shoulder at her boyfriend, watching him check his wrist watch.
"Y-yeah. We have fifteen minutes. We can kill some time in here."
She beamed back at Inuyasha, grabbing his wrist and leading him into the bookstore they had stopped in front of. The warm smell of paper instantly surrounded her, and she inhaled deeply.
"We should leave in ten minutes, so we aren't late," he nervously reminded her as she pulled him towards the main aisle to look at the hanging tags above each section.
"I know...it's just a reservation, though. Relax. We're only a block away."
Inuyasha had been on edge all day, and it had only gotten worse as the evening had approached. He was constantly fidgeting and checking his watch and taking these weird deep breaths...it was so unlike him. She figured something must have happened at work, but he hadn't told her about it yet. If she had to guess, it was because he didn't want to ruin the weekend.
It had been a year since she had moved in with him...traveling across the graduation stage and straight to California. Her mother liked to joke that she never even stopped to catch her breath. Why would she, though? Her brother was here. Her grandparents were here. Her (surprisingly) easy to acquire job was here. Her amazing, wonderful, gentle, kind, loving boyfriend was here.
The decision to move hadn't even given her pause.
It was as natural as the conversation itself had been.
She loved him. He loved her.
It just made sense.
And tonight, being the adorable, sexy sap that he was...he had wanted to celebrate a year of them living together.
A year of Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter and birthdays and every little damn thing they could possibly celebrate. A year of love and fights and make-ups and cuddling on the couch. A year of cooking dinner together and making love on every goddamn surface of his apartment. A year of falling asleep together and waking up in each other's arms.
She had insisted that they could just keep tonight simple. Order a pizza. Watch a movie. Have sex wherever and however he wanted...but he had wanted to do something fancier, and he had his mind set on it. So...here they were...dressed in their best and headed to an overpriced restaurant that he had needed to get a reservation for over a month in advance just to celebrate them.
"I know it's just a reservation," he sighed as she led him down an aisle, stopping in front of their Jane Austen books. "But I don't want to miss it."
"We won't, I promise," she soothed, her fingers dancing across the spines. She bit her lip, pulling one out from the stacks as she felt his arm wrap around her middle. The other pushed her hair away from her neck, allowing him to kiss her there. God, he hoped that wasn't the only thing she was going to promise him tonight.
He could feel the engagement ring burning a hole in his pocket. He might just be hypersensitive to it, but he swore he could feel the slim box move with every step he took.
Fuck, he just wanted tonight over with...or, at least, he wanted the proposal over with. He thought he was going to be sick. They had talked about marriage before, of course. She had known long before that he was looking to settle down...and eventually, she had started hinting that if he were to ask, she would say yes. He was so fucking ready to ask, too.
He had asked her father for her hand when they had gone back to Ohio for Easter, and he had said yes after her mother had poked him in the side. He still wasn't sure if her father liked him or not...it was hard to tell at times. But he had become nicer to him...probably because he realized that he wasn't going anywhere.
Except for when he was underway.
God, that was hard.
If he had thought the first time had been difficult, that was nothing in comparison to the second time. After he had returned, they had moved him to his permanent team with Miroku and Koga...and that second time…
That second time had ended with him being court martialed. Miroku had been assigned a bunk with Koga, and Inuyasha was in their quarters visiting with Miroku when he passively noticed a silky, grey object sticking out from Koga's possessions. He still didn't know what had possessed him to pry and pull it out of the drawer...but when he did, his blood had run cold. It was a pair of women's panties.
Kagome's panties.
And that had only been the tip of the iceberg. There, within the drawer, was the missing book of nude photographs she had given Hojo along with a USB drive containing a video of the time he had sex with her in the elevator.
He heard that the deck was still stained with Koga's blood from their fight.
She had stayed with him - through good times and bad. She had survived meeting his family, and she had stayed by his side in sickness and in health…
He just wanted to make her his already.
He had been ready for so long...had known it the second Kikyo had reappeared in his life yet again.
As soon as he had returned in November, he had received a phone call from the hospital telling him that Kikyo had been admitted and that he was still her emergency contact. He had felt obligated to visit her...and if he had known then that it was just another ploy to get him back, he would have stayed away. He didn't, though...he hadn't realized it until he had visited Kagome for Thanksgiving. Miroku had convinced him to come, saying that their parents would love to meet him...and he had bought a ticket when he was on the ship months before.
Kagome had been shell-shocked when he had first arrived.
He didn't find out until later that it was because Kikyo had sent her a Snap of her kissing him in the hospital. He had fallen asleep, and she had crawled into his lap and…
Needless to say, Kagome was livid - at him for not telling her until he arrived that he had seen Kikyo, and at Kikyo for daring to touch him. They had quickly worked through their fight...had passionate make-up sex against the wall of her shower...and she had then proceeded to call Kikyo and threaten her within an inch of her life.
They had never heard from Kikyo again.
"Don't you already have that one?" he teased, watching her pluck Sense and Sensibility off of the shelf.
"Of course I do," she laughed as he kissed her neck again. "You know I have all of them."
"Pretty sure you have a copy of every book ever written," he chuckled lightheartedly, and she rolled her eyes. He loved to tease her about her massive bookcases back home. When his parents had come to visit them for their first Christmas together after she had moved in, they had teased him and asked him if this meant he was going to read more...since he had a whole library in his home now.
He had replied that he had a librarian in his home, which was even better. And yes...he would pick up a book on occasion now, provided she allowed him to touch them.
He swore they were like her children.
They may as well have been, given how fiercely she protected them.
He was ready for a real child, though. A living one. One he couldn't wait to practice making again and again and again...god, he nearly groaned at the thought.
"You ok?" she asked, turning her head back to look at him as he blushed. He was holding her quite tightly to his body - much more firmly than he had been a minute ago.
"Yeah. Sorry. Just thinking about that Christmas my parents came to town."
"It was lovely," she smiled warmly. "Making sugar cookies with your mom...buying that rosemary topiary shaped like a Christmas tree and stringing it with popcorn and berries…"
"...watching it's A Wonderful Life curled up on the couch under a blanket with eggnog...waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents…it was perfect," he agreed, watching her face break out in a warm glow as she slid the book back to where it had come from.
Fuck it.
He couldn't wait for dinner. Not when he had the perfect moment right here...right now.
She pushed the book back into its spot and her fingers danced over to Pride and Prejudice.
"This is a nice copy," she commented passively, admiring the cover. It was unique. Different. A black fabric cover with embroidered flowers and letters stitched on it. She turned around to show him and immediately dropped the book, ignoring it as it hit the ground with a loud thud.
Her boyfriend...her perfect man...the love of her life...was kneeling before her, ring box open in hand.
"I know I'm supposed to wait. I...I had this whole thing planned out. I was gonna wait until dinner...but I can't wait anymore. Not when you're so perfect and happy and I just...I'm done waiting.
I need you Kagome...I need you like air.
The last nearly two years with you have been like a dream. What started as a way for us to heal blossomed into the most beautiful relationship I could have ever asked for. I've loved waking up next to you. Going to sleep next to you. Spending my life beside you.
I know I've said it before, but Kagome Higurashi...you have bewitched me body and soul and...I love...I love you. And I never want to be parted from you from this day on. Will you marry me?"
Kagome's hands clasped in front of her mouth as her vision blurred, tears streaming down her face. It all made sense now. The way he had been on edge all day. The crazy restaurant.
It was because he had been planning on doing this.
"Oh, Yash…" she breathed. "Yes! A thousand times yes!"
He stood, wrapping her in his arms and pressing his lips to hers. They expressed his joy, his excitement, his relief...his need. They were hungry. Burning. Teasing...and eventually, with a gentle nip to her bottom lip, he pulled away from her with tears in his eyes as he slipped the ring onto her left ring finger.
A light applause caught their attention, and they both blushed when they realized that the proposal had caught a few onlookers. They gave them their congratulations, and a woman sent Kagome a video of the whole event. She shakily swooped down and picked up the book she had dropped, pulling him to the register to buy it. Like she wasn't going to buy the book after that - HA!
They waved her off, telling them it was on them. They thanked the cashier, still in disbelief at the events of the last few minutes.
Engaged.
They were engaged.
"I love you, Darlin'," he murmured as they left the store, pausing to kiss her again.
"I love you too, Yash."
A/N: I started this story in August of 2019….and it's been such a big part of my life for so long that it's crazy that it's over. This fic will always hold a special place in my heart, and I love it to pieces.
Just because it's over doesn't mean it's good bye though.
As you can see from this epilogue, there was a lot of plot that didn't make its way into the fic because…well…the story naturally evolved. It became better suited to be a story about healing and summer love, and so…those plot points weren't included. I hope to one-day take those plot points and make a slice of life continuation of Dog Tags, however. And there will at least be a holiday smut once, because I have the start to that rotting in my WIPs right now!
But first…I need to finish up a few other projects.
A HUGE thank you to Saucy Librarian for her incredible work on this fic - without her, there would be no Dog Tags.
Also a huge thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, faved, followed, and voted for this story when it was up for best AU. You all encouraged me to keep posting, and even sometimes reminded me to post. I hope you will enjoy some of my other pieces now that this one has come to an end.
Love you all!
-L L