"I was going to save this visit for another day." Sesshou's voice was chilling behind her. Kagome didn't even bother to turn and address him. Her whole attention was on the massive tree in front of her. Not at big as her family's own tree of ages, the very one that bound her time and his together, but still a great tree for it's own age: 500 years.

"I couldn't let myself leave without coming to say a prayer." She admitted. To whom, she wasn't sure. Any person in earshot, or nobody at all, both worked just fine.

"Hn." Sesshou hummed behind her. After a moment, the crunch of his shoes over grass and dried leaves retreated. He was allowing her privacy.

Taking a shaky step forward, she exhaled the breath she had been holding in. A puff of her breath clouded in her face, and she then realized that the signs of Autumn were fast approaching. Soon all these trees would shed their every leaf. Soon the snow would fall.

"Take me to see Inuyasha." She had said in the car. Sesshou had been taken aback, but he didn't show it. He should have known. With all the whispers of his name in the hallways, tickling his ears, he should have known Kagome would hear them too. Inuyasha's betrothed, they called her. Inuyasha's widow.

He had explained briefly on the way over that their family plot was not typical in appearance. Most demons died and decayed in the same spot, with carrion eating crows picking at the fallen corpses until there was nothing left, but royal families were different.

Inuyasha's body had been taken to the forest's depths beyond the castle. Buried with a sapling's roots, he nourished it's growth, and became the strength of it's limbs, the girth of it's trunk, and the ever changing leaves of it's branches. Just like every other great lord and lady of their family. He was surrounded by them in death, welcomed home as one of them, finally.

This entire forest is a graveyard, she thought. She wondered who was planted beside him. Maybe a distant cousin or aunt.

Crouching before the rusted blade that once fiercely protected her, she worshiped it's stately display. At the base of the tree, where roots that wound down and dipped below the earth, only to rise and wind around barriers again, sat the Tessaiga, stabbed into the earth so many years ago that only the top two inches of the blade past the ratted hilt were exposed.

"Oh," She gasped, her eyes blurring instantly. "Hello, old friend."

As if the sword was stirring from a long sleep, the aura of the blade slowly came to. With a weak rise in energy, Kagome smiled. She could almost feel the weapon greeting her back.

"It's been a long time." She said. Maybe speaking to the sword itself would ease the pain of what her purpose was here. "I didn't know what was going to happen, but here we are." Kagome tried to smile, as if the whole situation was funny to her. She knew the future, but he never made her textbooks. How could she have known he was going to die? Tears were flowing like an endless stream down her face. "And here you are…" She brushed her fingers over the roots and grass in front of her. This was him, now. His soul had transcended, but he was here, too. She prayed he could hear her; see her.

"I know it must have been hard. I don't blame you for wanting to let go." Kagome sniffled, trying to regain control of herself. She had to say this. She was drowning in her own sorrows, and if she didn't say her peace, she would surely fall apart sooner or later from bottling these feelings. "Sesshoumaru took care of you. He welcomed you home when he asked you to help with the war, and you did. Maybe you wanted to come home and bury the hatchet." She sobbed, trying to imagine his own heartaches over being accepted as the half demon he was. Sesshoumaru had protected him, reached for him not once, but twice when war hit the West. Inuyasha had finally accepted somewhere along the way that he only needed to accept himself. It was beautiful to her. "Or maybe you did it for Sango and Miroku." She smiled at the thought of her two friends. She missed them terribly. "I'm so proud of you, Inuyasha."

Her throat closed at the last syllable of his name. She broke then, closing in on herself at the foot of his tree. She lay in a deep bow, her torso bent over until her forehead touched the ground. Grasping tightly to herself, she sobbed heavily.

Allowing herself to grieve, she let go of her worries over being seen as weak. She let go of the fact that he wouldn't want to see her cry. He should see her this way. He should know how much she missed him.

"I'm sorry," Kagome sat upright again after a while, wiping her tears away with the edge of her sleeves, "I know you hate it when I cry." She hiccupped back a sob and tried to compose herself.

She sat there for some time, just letting herself calm down and taking in the serene aura that came from all around her. He would never be alone again here. She had to smile at that. He was home.

However many minutes passed, she wasn't sure, but soon enough, Sesshou's aura pulsed in warning as he approached from the outside of the forest. He was giving her a five minute warning.

"I'll come back again," Kagome stood, taking steps up on roots to come face to face with the trunk of the tree. Running her fingers over the grooves and rough edges of bark, she sighed. "I promise."

As she stepped down from the roots, in true Kagome fashion, her foot caught and she stumbled, readying for a fall. Trying to catch herself and right her footing, she grabbed onto the closest thing in sight. The Tessaiga.

The second her hand touched the hilt, a pulse went out around the radius of the tree.

She stood just at the base, both hands clasped over the hilt of the sword, and bent over to watch her footing in the process of her fall. Looking up slowly, she took in the sight before her one at a time.

Bare feet. Clawed toes.

No, she thought, it couldn't be...could it?

"Kagome." Her heart jumped into her throat, and her head shot up at the sound of her name wrapped in his voice.

She was sure she was seeing things. This had only happened once, and the Inu no Taisho was the strongest demon she had ever encountered, so when he came to thank his sons for locking away his blade of destruction, So'unga, it made sense, but this…

So both his sons had surpassed his strength.

The corners of her lips quirked at the thought. Sesshoumaru's heart had warmed to welcome all, and forged his own sword from the depths of his soul, realizing he fell into no one's shadows, and Inuyasha…

She gulped. Here he was.

"Sesshoumaru found you." His disposition was warm, even when speaking his brother's name. She was so used to his scowl whenever Sesshoumaru was the subject at hand. He's found peace.

She could only stare, frozen.

"I wanted to say thank you." He said, his face as serene as every night they sat by the fire together huddled for warmth. She recalled those nights fondly. It was so rare it was just the two of them, but when it happened, they sat side by side, leaning into each other and speaking softly of hopeful things.

I want to be by your side always.

I would do anything to protect you.

"You did everything right, Kagome." He reassured her, "You don't have to suffer on my behalf." She shuddered at the sound of her name leaving his mouth again. "I'm where I'm supposed to be."

"I should have come back." The words left her mouth before she even realized.

"You're where you belong, stupid." He chuckled. Eyes shifting behind her, he said, "With people who love you."

Kagome didn't dare look behind her out of fear that taking her eyes off of Inuyasha's ethereal form would make him disappear.

"Come here," Inuyasha offered a clawed hand to her. She stepped around roots until they were on equal footing and reached for his hand. It felt so real. He felt so real; so alive. Is this how he felt when Kikyo was revived? He took both her hands in his and pressed his forehead to hers. "This is for you."

A flash of light, like a beam of sunshine, came down from the heavens and struck between the pair, encompassing their bodies in a glow of white energy. Kagome didn't know what to think or feel, confused by the buzzing sensation of her skin. The air around them bounced like frantic atoms vibrating violently together.

Sesshou watched from the exterior of the barrier. Inuyasha had returned, like their father before them, to briefly say goodbye. Impressive.

He knew Inuyasha's spirit would never harm Kagome, but that didn't stop him from worrying when pure light crashed down and sent the hairs on the back of his neck straight.

He gave it another moment, knowing this might be the one and only time he returns for Kagome. She would be furious if he ruined the one chance she had to see her beloved again.

When the light burned so bright, he could no longer see them, he moved forward. Brother or not, he was dead and Kagome was very much alive. He would like to keep her that way. Passing through the barrier without resistance, he came at just the right moment. The light was gone, and so was Inuyasha.

Kagome wobbled, and her feet gave out beneath her. He was there in less than a second to catch her and cradle her to his chest. Without searching her face for signs of distress, he knew she was out cold. Whatever Inuyasha did, it left her exhausted.

He stayed a moment, to check for harm anyways. Nothing physically telling was present, but her face was puffy and tear stained from all her grief and her body was like ice. He hadn't realized it had gotten so cold. Searching the edges of the clearing, he took in the sights around them. By now it must be late, he knew. Perhaps it would be best he took her home now. In truth, he wasn't sure he was up for caring for her broken heart when she would awaken anyways. A mother's touch seemed appropriate for this kind of ailment.

When Kagome woke the next morning, she was surprised to find herself in her bed at home. Sitting up, she held her head in her hands and reviewed all she could remember of the previous day.

Inuyasha.

And more presently, Bushida.

Right before Inuyasha had vanished, he spoke the name. Find Bushida. He had left her a clue. Taking her phone from her bedside table, she flipped it open and reviewed the message from last night. Just before leaving Ami, her handmaid had slipped her cell phone number. The scrap read "text me for any reason" and she had a feeling Ami was naturally friendly in demeanor and didn't wish to just be a handmaid. Somehow, she had been gifted a friend. One that didn't try stealing from her, kidnapping her, or killing her first. Those were different times, she reminded herself.

I do have a favor, if you don't mind looking into things…

-Kagome

The new message read:

What can I do for you?

-Ami

Kagome responded back without thought.

I'm looking for my friends' descendants, with the family name Bushida. Shippou might be able to help.

-Kagome

Snapping her phone closed, Kagome circled back mentally. She had seen Inuyasha's ghost. He had taken her hands, pressed his forehead to hers, and whatever had happened with the light that cast down onto them, it changed her.

She knew she felt different. The question was how?

Before she could delve too deeply into thought, her mother knocked and came through the door.

"Kagome, you're up."

Oh. She knew now.

"Mom," Kagome scooted up to the headboard, making room for her mother to sit with her, "I can see your aura."

"Is that new?" Kagome's mother didn't know how to respond. Her daughter's powers were mysterious and acted often without consent of its host.

"I've never been able to see human energy. Demonic, impure, yes. Good? Never." She searched around her mother's form, eyeing just the inch of air over the tops of her shoulders.

Every so slightly, color was detectable. Like seeing a rainbow of heat over spilled gasoline on a summer's day, the aura moved and waved. It was faint in coloring, and only when she focused could she pick out colors by name.

Blue. White. It was opalescent and moved with her body. A soft pink.

"This is different, though." She spoke more to herself than her mother. "Is this what Inuyasha did?"

"Inuyasha? Is he back?" Fear struck her mother's heart, knowing that even what seemed impossible was very likely in her daughter's experiences. She had heard plenty of Kikyo, and she knew the pain that followed with a walking corpse.

The colors were changing again. The light blue she identified before was like rain on a window pane during a light drizzle in the middle of an autumn day. This felt different. It made her shiver. A shipwreck at sea, the sky lighting with every clap of thunder in a dark storm.

"No," Kagome shook her head, searching her mother's eyes. "His spirit." She paused, still searching for changes. "He said goodbye."

The storm was over. Her aura was grey, the clouds still lingering to remind all of the damage done.

Fear.

She realized she could tell what it meant.

Sadness.

Confusion.

"I think Inuyasha gave me power to see differently." She fumbled for the words to describe the enormity of the sensation. "I could feel it."

"I don't know what to say," Her mother's eyes were tearful, but she didn't cry, "Are you alright?"

"I think," Kagome focused on her hands again, recalling how they felt in his hands. It was so real, and familiar, but foreign too. She was more used to Sesshou's hands guiding her. She smiled before she realized she had. Raising her gaze to her mother's concerned eyes, she continued, "I'm going to be just fine."