Now! Time for some sweetness!

3 – Welcome to the Afterlife

Last evening Inuyasha had passed away due to his illness. He just stopped breathing. And this morning he had been cremated and the ashes were sprinkled honorably on the roots of the Goshinboku. The whole village took part in the funeral, and lots of flowers were placed on the place where the ashes had been sprinkled. Inuyasha's rosary had been spared. Kagome had it is her breast pocket.

Kaede and Miroku led the silent moment, but Kagome was fighting to stay quiet. She was on the verge of tears.

"It will be okay, Kagome", Sango said, gently stroking her friend's shoulder, although she was on the verge of tears, too.

"But how can I live without him?" Kagome cried. "We were supposed to be inseparable. Inuyasha was supposed to be the last of us to die! To be immortal!"

"Nobody is immortal. But maybe he is is now up there, watching us up from the clouds..."

That might be true in a way. Inuyasha felt like he woke up from sleep. He heard the loud sound of the swishing of tree leaves and birds singing. He blinked his eyes, blinked twice... And then his eyes shot open. He sat up quickly and looked around in a shock. His head didn't ache anymore. He didn't feel cold. He didn't feel like coughing, not feeling lightheaded... Where was he? What had happened?

Inuyasha stood up. He felt the wet, glittering grass under his feet and the wind in his hair. He looked around absolutely astounded. He saw huge trees all around him. They were even larger than Goshinboku. They were so tall Inuyasha couldn't even see their tops – he felt like an ant.

Suddenly he felt a familiar scent in his nose... He couldn't tell what it was, but somehow he knew it. And so he started following it. He walked through the forest, crossed a river and finally arrived at the edge of a huge field. He wandered around it, and finally just laid down on his back and relaxed. This place Was nice all right, but where was Kagome? What about Miroku? Sango? Shippo? Kirara? Kaede? Where was he? How did he get here? What was going on?

He laid there quite a while, not really minding his problems. For some reason, he felt really good. Relaxed.

Suddenly...

"Welcome, my son", said a very low man's voice. Now Inuyasha twitched and quickly sat up. His eyes shot open.

In front of him he saw a man. He was very tall, maybe about 1.5 feet taller than him and very muscular. He had long, sliver hair tightened up on a ponytail. His shoulders and arms were covered with metal armor, and he had a white kimono with a few blue stripes. He had stripes on his cheeks. Who was he?

Inuyasha retreated, confused, and couldn't say anything. The man stayed quiet, too.

"Y-your son...?" Inuyasha mumbled, astonished. "Are you my... dad?"

The man nodded, smiling, and approached the boy. He placed his hand on the top of his son's head right in between his dog ears and stroke them. "I have been waiting for you. Your soul's transition took a bit longer than I thought."

"My... What?" Inuyasha repeated. "Where the hell am I?"

"This place has many names. But we, who live here, call it the Afterlife."

"You mean... I am... A-am I... DEAD!?" Inuyasha cried out. His father nodded again. For a while nobody said a thing, when finally Inuyasha's eyes lit up:

"But... If I'm dead and you, dad, are here, dead too... then... Mom is here too, right?"

"Yes. Follow me, I'll take you to her", the man nodded, turned aroung waved the boy to follow him. They walked out of the field and disappeared to the forest. Inuyasha followed his father right behind him along a path.

"You know... Dad..." Inuyasha said quietly. "Your name's Inutaisho, right?"

"Yes."

"And Mom told me it was you who named me Inuyasha... A name same like yours... She also told about you sometimes... I remember it", Inuyasha mumbled."When you fought to protect Mom and me that night when I was born."

"True. And that night I died and was transitioned here. And ever since, my job has been protecting you and your mother."

"Like a guardian angel?"

"Yes, something like that."

"Keh! You made an epic fail! Mom died years and years ago, leaving me all alone, living through hell all my life! And what about my death? I was deadly sick for a month, and now I'm dead too!"

"My son, everyone has their time to die. We souls cannot prevent it. We can only give some strength to our protegies. I protected your mother until the day of her death, and after that, you."

"And what about now?" Inuyasha raised his eyebrow.

"Sesshomaru. Who else? He didn't really need protection like you and your mother did, so that's why picked you instead of him."

Even though Inuyasha was acting rude and arrogant, Inutaisho didn't get offended. He had been following his son through all his life, and knew his nature.

For the rest of their journey nobody said anything, when suddenly trees started to thin out. They found each other in front of a huuuuge japanese castle's yard. There was a small temple with stone dragons guarding it's door and a small creek and a waterfall. And it was sure not the only temple in here.

Inuyasha followed his father, looking around his mouth open. Was everything in "the Afterlife" this big?

"Come in", Inutaisho smiled and opened one sliding door for his son. The castle was very fine, the waxed floors were reflecting almost like mirrors and the japanese folding screens were painted beautifully.

"Dad... If everyone who dies comes here... How on earth do we all fit in here?" Inuyasha asked as they walked the corridor.

"This dimension is endless. Some souls return back to the world of the living, but those are things you should not be worrying about."

After walking the endless corridors Inutaisho opened one more door and pointed inside with a warm smile.

"Here is our room – Yours, mine and..."

Inuyasha stepped inside...

"M-mo..." Inuyasha couldn't believe his eyes. There she sat – a beautiful lady with long, black hair, dressed in beautiful kimonos... That was her. That was Inuyasha's mother. She had been waiting for him.

"Mom!" Inuyasha shouted and incontinently rushed into her arms, nuzzling against her breast. The parents could hear the boy whimper like a puppy, but as his face was covered, nobody could see a few small tears of joy came to his eyes. He had maybe never been this happy before.

It was getting late. All this time Inuyasha had just enjoyed his time with his parents – the people he loved the most. Now he was sitting next to his mother in his dog pose, leaning against her shoulder, relaxed. Inutaisho looked at this, smiling.

"Now we will get to know each other", Inutaisho. "You'll meet some other souls. It's dinner time."

"Dinner?" Inuyasha turned his ears towards his father. "Do we dead people eat?"

"Oh yes. Eating is huge enjoyment, and the Afterlife is supposed to just what the living ones think 'heaven' is – everything is perfect, so perfect you never want to leave."

For a while Inuyasha looked blank, but then smiled a bit and nodded.

"Mom?" Inuyasha asked as the trio walked the corridor.

"Yes, honey?"

"Did you ever feel sorry to see your son going through hell after you died?"

"I did. Sometimes I cried myself to sleep. I even pleaded the King to let me return back to your world."

"But he didn't let you. Why?"

"You must have a soul strong enough to return the world of the living. And I just wasn't strong enough."

"But now we're here, together", Inutaisho smiled and put his hands on their shoulders.

Finally they arrived in front of maybe the biggest sliding door Inuyasha had seen before. Inutaisho didn't knock, just opened it and let his son and wife in. And my Lord the dining hall was huge! And it was almost filled with people... But not only human! Inuyasha's ears shot up when he was a table group filled with other youth. But what's the best – they were all hanyous! He could tell it – they didn't smell like human, but not demon either.

"Go and have seat. I'll bring the food soon", Inutaisho said and pointed one table group, where there was still some free place. Mother and the son stepped to the group and sat down.

"Hello, Izayoi!" a young woman in light kimono. "Is he...?"

"Yes. This is my son, Inuyasha. He came just this morning."

The whole group looked at Inuyasha – but those faces were not like he had seen all his life. These weren't blasphemous, hating... No, they were welcoming and filled with approval.

Soon Inutaisho arrived at the table group with a large tray with three cups of miso soup on his family's tables, and sat down next to his son.

"Well hello there!" the man smiled. "Have you got to know each other yet?"

"Yeah, but I haven't introduced myself yet!" said a boy, maybe a few years older than Inuyasha. "I'm Zaki, dragon hanyou!"

"Inuyasha, dog hanyou!" Inuyasha smiled. "Nice to meetcha!"

And they shook hands and started eating.

"Mom..." Inuyasha mumbled with his mouth full. "Are there lots of hanyous out here?"

"Yes. Maybe not as much as humans or full youkais but yes, there are", Izayoi answered.

"And about... bad youkais? Do we have to fight them to survive in here?"

"Absolutely no. Bad youkais simlpy disappear after they die. And fighting or war is not allowed in here", said Inutaisho.

"Keh! It's getting quite boring in here if all I can do is to enjoy my days!"

"But I told you, son, that we souls protect living humans. Tomorrow it's your turn to go get your protege!"

Inuyasha sat still, looking deep inside his father's eyes.