I'm a tad surprised y'all haven't started giving me grief as though we were on a long road trip—"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we theeeeerrrrre yeeeeeettttt?" But the fact that y'all haven't makes me eternally grateful. As do all the reviews, favorites, and follows. Much love to you all!

To CL and Tolazytologin, thank you also for your kind reviews and support. I'm glad you both plan to stick around!

We're getting closer…

Quotes:

"It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing"
–Tom Petty, "Time to Move On"

"We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreparably broken."
–John Green, Looking for Alaska

She was back in the Sengoku era, standing outside some remote village she faintly remembered passing through during their journey.

How is this even possible?

She looked down and saw that she was still clad in her pajamas, a pair of shorts and a thread-worn old T-shirt.

Ahh…of course. I'm dreaming.

She walked away from the village toward a hillside and found a place to sit overlooking a shallow creek in a little valley as the sun was beginning to set. She loved watching the sky transition from hazy blue, to deep golden, to the breathtaking brilliance of a sky painted purply-blue mixing with burgundy, flowing into pinkish-scarlet down to the burnt orange where the sun had just slipped below the horizon.

After a few minutes of watching dusk settle in and listening to the peaceful sounds of nature surrounding her, she realized that she wasn't usually alone in her dreams, unless it was the result of some kind of nightmare scenario.

It sure would be nice to have some company.

As if summoned by her thoughts, she heard footsteps crunching on the grass behind her. She turned around to see an older man with silver-streaked black hair approaching her. His golden eyes were a little tired, and his face more wrinkled—not to mention he was a lot more human than the last time she'd seen him—but there was no mistaking him.

She opened her mouth, but she couldn't get her voice to work around the golf ball–sized lump that had formed in her throat.

"Hey, long time no see. Want some company?" he asked as he flopped down on the grass beside her.

Kagome swallowed hard and blinked back tears. "You… You're…"

Inuyasha looked thoughtful for a moment and then gave her a goofy grin. "Keh. Should I look like this instead?"

His visage shimmered, and before her appeared the very familiar white-haired, dog-eared young man she hadn't seen in far too long.

Kagome startled. "Huh? But… But…"

He thumped her lightly on the forehead. "It's your dream, baka."

"Inuyasha!" She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

I know it's just a dream, but it feels so real…

Inuyasha patted her awkwardly on the back until she pulled away. Then, he rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before saying, "Look, I gotta talk to you."

"Okay…" Not exactly what she'd expected him to say, but then this dream wasn't like any she'd had before.

He stared at her for a long moment, as though sizing her up. For what, she couldn't say.

"I'm gonna be blunt."

When she interrupted him by doubling over and laughing, he looked a little chagrined. "Right, nothing you wouldn't expect, huh?"

Then his expression grew serious. "Anyway…me being blunt." He sighed. "Kagome, you need to move on. What's gonna happen when you keep walking forward, but you're looking back over your shoulder? At some point, you're going to trip and bust your ass or run into something."

She started to argue with him, but he held up a hand. "Nah, lemme finish. There's nothing wrong with checking behind you every once in a while, but you can't live your entire life looking over your shoulder and dwelling on the past."

Inuyasha paused, and then his lips twitched as if trying to suppress a smile. "Besides, as clumsy as you are… If you keep looking backward, you're definitely going to fall and break something."

She slapped at him playfully. "To be fair, you're not wrong. I mean, just the other day I tripped in the library and nearly fell on my face."

He peered at her speculatively and then said, "But you didn't fall on your face, did you? Somebody caught you, didn't they?"

Kagome gave a little gasp of surprise and stared at him.

Inuyasha shrugged and said, "You gotta have a little faith. Faith that somebody is going to be there to help you, that you're not going to fall, and it's going to be okay."

Her mouth fell open wide. "When did you get to be so wise? Now I know this is definitely is a dream," she said, laughing.

He laughed with her and then said, "Well, the way I see it, you got a couple options—either you're right, and it's just a dream and your subconscious making all of this up… Or the years of parenting and then all that time to think on things in the afterlife had an impact on me."

One of the things he said registered, and she looked at him dubiously. "You're a parent? You?"

"Keh. I was a good dad, I'll have you know," he said.

Her throat tightened with emotion again, and her eyes burned a little bit. Seeing this, Inuyasha flapped his hands and his eyes widened in panic.

"Oh no, don't do that, dammit."

The tears spilled over, but they were mixed with giggles.

"At least some things never change," she said, giving a weak smile and rubbing at her eyes with the backs of her hands.

"Never did like when one of my girls cried," Inuyasha said gruffly, looking away awkwardly.

"Girls? Since when am I one of those?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Both of his brows raised in response. "Nuh-uh. Married life and having a daughter taught me when something's a trap…and that's a damn trap if I ever heard one."

He slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shit. There I go revealing more than I'm supposed to. Rules, ya know." He rolled his eyes. "But how'd you know if it wasn't just made up in your dream?"

Kagome shrugged, not entirely sure how to interpret his comments, and they chatted for a few minutes longer, Inuyasha remaining carefully vague about things that had happened after she'd left the Sengoku era. Then, something dawned on Kagome.

"Matte! I thought the jewel said you'd forget me!"

Inuyasha grinned. "Death has a funny way of lifting curses, ya know."

She nodded, feeling the prickle of tears of joy at being remembered.

I don't care if this is nothing more than a beautiful lie concocted by my subconscious. It feels so real. And so right.

Inuyasha looked distressed at seeing her eyes brimming with tears again, his ears pinning flat to his head, but before he could say anything, Kagome noticed his appearance growing translucent.

"Inuyasha… You're…um…fading," she said, pointing.

He looked down. "Damn. Out of time already."

Suddenly she found herself wrapped in a fierce hug.

"Tell Mitsu-obasan and Sōta I say hi." He paused and then chuckled. "Keh, guess your mom and brother might not believe it was actually me, huh?"

His arms, which were becoming so sheer they were hard to see, tightened around her. "It's gonna be okay, 'gome. Oh, and get that thing in your chest checked out, will ya?"

With that he was gone, and before she knew it, she was waking up in her childhood bedroom. Alone.

Kagome could no longer hold her emotions at bay. She burst into tears.

After a moment or two, the tears slowed, and she dried her face and eyes with her bedsheet. Then, tossing the covers back, she knelt on the floor and pulled a lockbox out from under her bed.

Scrolling the dials to the right combination, she lifted the lid, something she hadn't done in eight years. Inside were precious keepsakes she'd acquired at various points during her journey, remembrances of those she'd left behind.

There were a few small random items, such as swatches of fabric or an interesting rock she'd come across, but none were as prized as the pieces specifically from her dear friends.

Inuyasha's subjugation beads. How thrilled he'd been when she'd removed them.

A seashell-shaped container of medicinal salve from Sango. Kagome regretted never getting the recipe from her.

A whisker shed from Kirara, carefully wrapped in a piece of paper so that it wouldn't get lost.

An acorn and a leaf from Shippō, neither of which had decayed, something she chalked up to fox magic.

A handwritten ofuda from Miroku, the paper still crisp and ink still vibrant despite the years passed, which she found odd but assumed perhaps it had something to do with it being imbued with Miroku's spiritual powers, sort of like Shippō's acorn and leaf.

Lastly, a dried and pressed flower given to her by Rin.

Kagome smiled and ran her fingertips gently over the keepsakes, her dream about Inuyasha still starkly vivid in her mind.

Could it really have been him?

Though a tiny part of her objected and said it was completely unlikely, the majority of her argued it actually had been Inuyasha, or rather, Inuyasha's spirit visiting her in the dream realm.

She yawned and glanced at her alarm clock. 6:00 a.m. She really should attempt to go back to sleep, though she wasn't sure if it was even possible.

Closing the lockbox and replacing it under the bed, she crawled back into bed, determined to get at least a little bit more rest.

Kagome lay there for several minutes before flinging the sheets off. She was too parched and her mouth dry after crying to sleep. She'd just go get a glass of water and then try again.

She tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen, forgoing any lights. She filled a glass of water and took a couple sips, turning to creep quietly back upstairs when the kitchen light flicked on.

She yelped in surprise, sloshing water on the floor and herself.

"Kagome?"

"Oh, Mama, you startled me!"

Her mother looked at her in concern. "What are you doing up already? Are you having trouble sleeping again?"

"No…I…" Kagome paused and then said, "I dreamed about Inuyasha."

"Ah, I see," her mom said carefully. "Was it…bad?"

Kagome smiled as she grabbed a hand towel to pat herself dry from the spilled water. "No. No, actually, it was pretty good…just weird."

Her mom nodded, grabbing another towel and kneeling down to wipe up the small puddle on the floor.

She didn't know why she continued, but she did, explaining, "I watched the sunset, and he showed up, and we talked a little before he disappeared. He said to tell you and Sōta hi, by the way." She gave a wry grin briefly, but then it slipped away and her face grew pensive. "Think it was really him? His spirit, I mean?"

Her mother smiled warmly. "Who knows, Kagome? Stranger things have happened, you know. After all, you traveled through time!" A small giggle escaped her.

Kagome sighed audibly, and then, as though the admission was forced from her, said very softly, "I miss them."

Her mom looked up at her in surprise, eyes widening slightly. Though much better than it had been initially, Kagome still didn't speak about her friends from the other side of the well very often.

"I know you do, baby girl."

"It was my choice, and I made the right decision, it's just…" Kagome felt long-suppressed emotions bubbling up and clenched her fists. "It's just… I wish…"

Unable to verbalize what she was feeling, she let out an exasperated breath and turned to go back upstairs. Before she reached the door, a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Kagome, it's okay to be angry—you're allowed to be angry and to feel hurt."

She looked at her mom in confusion. "Angry? What do you mean? I'm not angry."

Her mom smiled faintly and said, "Sweetheart, the man who you loved chose another woman. No matter how much you try to rationalize what happened or tell yourself that it's okay, that it was the way things were meant to be, it still hurts."

Something inside Kagome cracked, and it was like a dam had broken and all the feelings of anguish and betrayal that she had hidden away so many years ago finally let loose. Sobs racked her body, and her mom held her, muttering soothing words while petting her hair and patting her back.

"Why, Mama? Kikyō gave her life for him—I know there's no way I could compete with that, but why? Why was I not good enough? What did I do wrong?"

"Oh, baby girl, you did nothing wrong. Although I can't answer those questions—I can only say that it wasn't meant to be. And I also know that hearing that doesn't take the pain away. But it's high time you acknowledge this. You've been bottling it up and denying it for too long. And while I hate to see my child in so much pain, I'm really glad that you're finally getting it out."

Kagome smiled weakly through her tears and hugged her mother tighter.

After a little while she said quietly, "The other thing that hurts, Mama, is I'm not sure if I loved him as much as I thought I did."

Her mom looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, it could be that you loved the idea of him. But you also need to remember that there are lots of different types of love. And young love, especially our first love, is a little idealistic, a bit naïve, and often willfully ignorant of any issues in the relationship. Still, that doesn't make it any less special."

Kagome nodded, and her mother continued. "But I can tell you one thing for sure—when you find the person that you are meant to be with, you won't have any doubts. And trust me when I say you want to find someone who will only look at you, who also won't have any doubts or divided attentions, and who you won't hesitate to fight for."

"Do you really think so?" she asked skeptically.

Her mom gave her a cheerful smile and said, "Of course, sweetie. Your father wasn't the only man I dated, you know…"

Kagome couldn't help a laugh. "Thanks, Mama."

Her mom hugged her again. "It's going to be okay, baby girl. You're not alone, and even if you stumble, someone will be there to catch you. You are not alone."

She jolted at the echoed sentiment from her dream, and she could only nod mutely. She knew Inuyasha and her mother were both right, but it was positively terrifying to consider taking steps down a new path in life.

Kagome's mom released her and gave her a gentle shove toward the doorway. "Now, go try to get some more sleep, and when you get up, I'll have breakfast ready for you, Sōta, and jii-chan. Off to bed with you!" her mom said, shooing her out the door and toward the stairway.

Surprisingly, Kagome felt like she might actually be able to snooze a bit.

Worth a try at least.

She dropped into her bed and pulled the covers over her head to ward off the inevitable morning sun. Then, for the first time in a very long time, she slept without dreaming.

She woke a few hours later to the sounds of her mom in the kitchen making breakfast and smiled. While she enjoyed her independence living alone, there was something very soothing and comforting about letting her mom take care of her from time to time.

Knowing she'd be called down for breakfast once it was ready, Kagome snuggled deeper into the covers. She thought briefly about the events of the past week, particularly meeting Library Guy—as she'd taken to calling him in her mind—and Keikain Ryūji.

She had a text from Onmyoji Asshole—how she'd entered him in her cell phone, and a moniker she was quite certain would piss him off thoroughly—indicating Monday was best for him and to name the time and place.

Gotta love that advance notice…

Kagome shot back a quick reply, asking him to meet her at noon at a coffee shop on campus. She wasn't about to accommodate him; he could come to her.

As for Library Guy… Well, if she saw him again, great! If not, she wasn't going to pine over someone whose name she didn't even know, no matter how hot he was.

Really hot supplied that annoying little voice in her head unhelpfully.

She ignored it.

Since her mother hadn't summoned her for breakfast yet, she pulled up the paranormal investigation squad website on her phone, scanning the new forum posts instead of going into the general chat like she had done last time.

I am too sleepy and undercaffeinated for their level of yokai enthusiasm, which is saying something coming from me…

She checked the dates and saw that there were at least ten that had either been newly commented on or posted within the last twelve hours:

Mysterious Pond
A possible kitsune encounter?
Sumting follownig me
Encounter with spirit – items stolen?
New EVP from abandoned mine
Ghostly Thief in Ukiyoe Town?
Help! Gaosts in my room!
New here
Tanuki? Ukiyoe Town?
Cursed object – help pls

She opted to skip the ones with typos or poor spelling. She knew it was an unfair bias, but…

They should really know it destroys all credibility on their part.

She was intrigued, though, by what appeared to be a trend—a trickster type, perhaps a kitsune or a tanuki, pilfering people's belongings somewhere in Ukiyoe Town. Kagome decided to start with the so-called kitsune encounter:

"Hello! I've always been really attuned to supernatural creatures and sensitive to spirits. And I've had a lot of unexplained things happen to me in the past. For example, when I was five years old…"

She sighed. Not only was "gohansgurl" long-winded, but it also appeared they had no clue what a paragraph was, as it was all one massive—and very lengthy—block of text. She skimmed it as quickly as possible, scrolling down until finally, at the bottom, she found a hint of what she was looking for:

"…in 9th Street Park walking through, had a strange-looking yokai steal my grandmother's bracelet right off my wrist! I was totally in shock…"

The writer went off on a tangent after that, and Kagome, frustrated by the rather misleading subject line, went back to the other posts.

The "Encounter with spirit – items stolen?" post was far shorter, a bit unfortunately so. All it said was "paranormal encounter in random park in Ukiyoe Town—spirit stole my textbook. Anyone know anything about this?" No one had replied, but she noted the post was from 4 a.m. today.

"Ghostly Thief" and "Mysterious Pond" were more of the same—jewelry stolen off their person in a park in Ukiyoe Town, though the "Mysterious Pond" poster added that they thought the spirit had said something like "get out of here" before stealing the item.

That's strange… A territorial yokai? Or yurei?

She wasn't sure, but aside from the textbook, the items were jewelry, so she was still wondering about kitsune or tanuki, knowing they did like their shiny objects.(1)

With that in mind, she clicked on "Tanuki? Ukiyoe Town?"

"I work third shift, and on my way to work two days ago, I had of all things my lunch stolen from me as I cut through 9th Street Park. I was so caught off guard I didn't get a good look at who or what it was, but it seemed like whatever did it disappeared into the pond. I'm not particularly superstitious or anything but it was after dark and I was the only one around, to my knowledge. My wife thinks it must've been a tanuki, but I'm not so sure. Anyone have a clue?"

Kagome's interest was fully piqued by now. The anecdotes didn't give her enough to go on to guess what kind of yokai it was, but she felt certain it was a yokai.

A grin found its way to her lips. She didn't know if it was meeting Ryūji, the dream with Inuyasha, or the talk with her mom—likely a combination of all three—but she felt simultaneously more resolved and more carefree than she had in years. She would open her eyes, and mind, and move forward.

Starting with investigating that mysterious yokai in the 9th Street Park!

Footnote:
1. I have absolutely no idea if tanuki and kitsune yokai like shiny things. So don't quote me on that. However, in this universe, they do. Why? "Because I said so!"

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know we didn't get any Rikuo action, but perhaps you'll be appeased by the brief appearance of a different guy with partial demon heritage.
Real life has been making the muse a bit flighty…but hopefully this next chapter won't take too long. I know what I want to happen…it's just making it happen… Damn chapters won't write themselves :-)