MEDDLING WITH TIME
"What if… during those three years the well shut, Kagome… I stole you?"
AN/ A brief note of warning: this story will move backwards and forwards through it's own timeline in the beginning liberally, as the 'game' is set (as they say) and introductions are finished. This will settle down as the plot moves forward, and each part gets longer. This fic has taken up special place of residence in my heart, and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing (and illustrating my DA) it!
A lot of these chapters have been written in segments, posted to the iyfic_contest on livejournal. These people are brilliant fun to write with.
DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha belongs to the gorgeous Rumiko Takahashi.
CHAPTER ONE : Where Timelines Collide.
Where most instances involving time meddling were catalysed by meaningful, proper reasons (Death, mistake) Shippo's guilty love was meagre in comparison. He hoped that with this humble outlook, taking only what he needed, and nothing more, fate would grant him this wish.
When it came to tricks, it was without doubt that Kitsune's were the gods, or demons, of the trade. Ploys, gambles, magic, games; the legends twisted through them all – but what immortalised these tales, was the playful innocence of these creatures.
It had started with a wedding.
The decorations that littered the clearing around the well were simplistic in the view of their time, but elegant. Even though flowers were a girls thing, a talented Kitsune such as himself could appreciate the beauty provided by the simple theme of red and pink petals, which matched the bride flawlessly. As dearest friend to Kagome, Shippo would accept no less. Aside from that, it was obvious the groom had contributed nothing.
Irritation stirred in his gut, jade eyes narrowing with his disapproval. This event had meant something. It wasn't fair, on her. In fact, Kagome had always been unhappy around the baka.
His fur bristled with discomfort, an unhappy pout settling across the line of his mouth. Ahead of him, they joined hands, twin smiles meeting sweetly, with simple shyness, before the clatter of beads shook through the air in a flurry of colour, and within the midst of the mess, their lips met, sealing their vows.
Ignoring the distractions that lay all around him – the food, the pretty white cloth that Kagome had brought back from home, the toys – the small Kitsune's teeth worried his lip, unable to shake his unease as his eyes settled on the bride, watching, carefully.
He needed to talk to her.
In a flurry of ginger hair and fur, the kitsune disappeared from the mess table, moving forward towards the departing couple. If he could just catch her before she took this too far. "Kagome!"
"Shippo?"
The taller, broader, Kitsune had a small, secretive smile on his lips as he watched the young woman in the confines of his arms, her tentative heat warm and at home beneath him. Apart from the apparent tear strains, that tracked two solitary paths down her delicate cheeks, she was as healthy and perfect as he remembered from his childhood.
"It's so good to see you, Shippo-"
His hand was at her mouth, effectively sealing her lips part way through his name as Kagome glanced up into the taller stature of the Kitsune with startled surprise. At the sudden tension in his features, Kagome's eyes immediately tracked his own, searching the short breadth of the small shrine courtyard for the source of the Kitsune's anxiety; but she couldn't say she was surprised when she noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
Her heart thudded in her chest, in a familiar rhythm of excited stress that brought with it the tantalising reminisces of the feudal era. It had been so long since she had made contact with youkai, or anything from her past, that the peace and serenity of her time had almost killed her.
Reaching up slowly, Kagome tugged the light grip of her kitsune's hand away, a smile appearing shyly despite herself at the worry that marred the sweet, homely features as she took his hand.
He glanced down, a smile breaking the steadily hardening lines of features.
"Sorry, Kagome."
The air around them crackled, as the darkening gaze of her youngster - although he wasn't young any more – focused with sharp intensity to identify the threat. Deep emerald flicked back at the last moment to hers, the old sparkle of mischievousness returned with a ferocity that matched the foxfire licking around the edges of his quivering form.
"Watch me, Kagome. I'm a lot stronger, then when you last saw me. Watch me protect you."
She couldn't say if she felt relieved, or not, at his proclamation.
"Just don't get hurt."