Author's Note: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the source material for this story. All are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This fic is labeled MA per standards for eventual violence, sex, and language so be warned.

Updated 20/03/2020: Fixed some errors and added some conversation mostly. Clarified a little. Nothing major but it flows better now, I think.

...

Reconciliation

Chapter 2 – I Knew I Loved You

The Goshinboku was in full bloom in the Feudal Era for the first time Kagome could remember. It was beautiful. The sacred tree was a beacon of white in a sea of green this spring. Small, white blossoms wreathed the entire crown of the young tree and scattered all around its trunk, littering the forest floor. As the breeze rustled the forest all around, the flowers drifted along the ground, collecting against the feet of a young woman's sandals.

Kagome had returned to this side of the well, to the Feudal Era, less than a month ago. Pensive sapphire eyes looked from the blossoms up to the tree ahead and smiled. It was beautiful here in the forest. Peaceful. No noise contamination from a busy city and a huge population of cars and people. The sounds of birds and movement in the undergrowth was the only harmony to the rustling of the trees. The breeze smelled like fresh flowers and loamy earth and sunlight.

She placed her basket of herbs on the ground, midnight hair falling like a curtain around her face, and moved forward to touch the scar where Inuyasha had been held for so long. Miko robes brushing the gnarled, unnatural vines that had grown up around him as she climbed. It was smooth there in contrast to the rest of the trunk. The hole where the sacred arrow tip had pierced the tree straight through his chest was the only other evidence of the seal he had endured. She shuddered, thinking again of her beautiful hanyou being frozen here in time for longer than she'd been alive.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" a voice suddenly erupted by her left ear.

"Eeep!" She stumbled backward, slipping on the hardened vines, and was caught by two strong arms.

"What the hell, Inuyasha?! Don't sneak up on me like that." she yelled and smacked him on one of the offending arms.

Inuyasha doubled over laughing for a second before straightening and leaning forward to gather her in.

"Don't get cute with me now, buddy. I'm still mad at you. Ugh, I hate being scared!" Kagome stomped a foot in the dirt.

"I know. That's why it's fun." he smirked over her head.

"Won't be so fun when my first reaction is to scream you-know-what from now on." Kagome pulled away and crossed her arms in mock anger.

He paled for a split second but recovered quickly and held a hand out to her. She ignored him and turned in a slow circle trying to find her wayward basket. Finding it near the trunk of the tree, she stepped over to retrieve it and brushed off her hakama. He enjoyed watching her bent low in front of him…

'Woman, you have no idea what game you're playing.' he groaned internally.

"Ready to go home?"

"Yeah, but I still feel guilty. Kaede already has a house guest and so much to do and I'm just getting in her way." Kagome reached out a took his hand with practiced ease and faint rush of color to her cheeks.

She studied him as they walked and catalogued all of the changes she had noticed in him this past month.

He was definitely taller. That had been unexpected. His lips met her forehead now as they stood side by side, which he was taking advantage of more and more. He was thin like she remembered, all limbs and length. His strength was subtle, hidden beneath the Robe of the Fire Rat and his easy, relaxed gait. She knew, of course, what strength that thin form belied but he was so much more comfortable in himself now. His claws and ears were a constant reminder of his heritage, and his hair was longer and straighter than before. All in all, he looked less like a wild teenager and more like a man. Not that she was complaining. It was a relief and a comfort to think they had been growing up together, even so far apart.

His teasing was less the product of discomfort with emotion and more playful flirting. He was more direct with his words and less evasive in his answers. She found he was still himself but now he was more. He was still abrasive but it was intentional and directed. He was hot-tempered but it was in defense of himself and others. He was attentive but not overbearing and demanding. And he wasn't confused anymore about who and what he was. Inuyasha was all of those things before she had returned and now she could appreciate the growth in him as much as he could appreciate hers.

"Oh come on, you know she don't mind. Sango's so happy to have you back to help her out. Those kids are definitely a handful. Monk better not add anymore to the family though or they're gonna run outta room. I'm sure you're a help at Kaede's too while the old bat's busy. Oh, hold on…"

He hefted a large deer from under a bush over his other shoulder and started to pull Kagome along.

"Seriously? Nothing like a walk in the forest with a deer carcass for company…" she wrinkled her nose.

"Well, I could leave it but we all might be a little hungrier for a few days." he stated sarcastically.

"I know, I know. It's just one of those things I'm not 100% used to yet."

"Wench, we ran all over the island. TWICE. Showers and showers of demon parts, poison gas, and dirt flying everywhere but this deer bothers you?"

He slung it down off his shoulder and shook it a little in front her for emphasis. It's limp head and legs lolled about in midair.

"All right, stop that. Gross! It's fine. I'm fine. Let's go home." Kagome laughed lightly and took his hand again. "When will your house be finished?"

"Dunno." he shrugged. "Depends on when I can get back out and get some more wood ready. Been too many petty demons around to spend much time on it. Gotta do it right though…" he trailed off and a faint touch of color lit his face.

"Well, I'll be glad when you're not sleeping out in the woods all the time. I know you're fine but it's nice to have a home."

"Keh. I've been sleeping outside my whole life. Nothing new. But it isn't about that. The house isn't the home, idiot. You are." he said matter-of-factly, ducking through the underbrush as they broke through the tree line at the edge of the village.

"What?" she breathed.

Kagome's feet came to a full stop at the edge of the forest in the field of wildflowers. He was standing there in the sunlight with a dead deer over one shoulder, silver hair gently moving in the breeze, staring straight into her eyes. Gold eyes that suddenly commanded her attention and gained it, unfaltering. Inuyasha blinked, dropped the deer, and sighed. He stood straight, brushed his hair back with both hands, and faced her.

"There was gonna be a better way to do this but… I said you are my home. The only one I've ever had." He stalked over to her, slowly and purposefully. He reached out and gently placed a warm hand on her cheek, thumb stroking her darkening blush. "You are what I come back to, not some hut in a village. What I have to offer isn't land or a house or much more than what I am right now but I want to come home every day and that means having you by my side from now on. Forever." He took her hands in his and looked right at her. Amber met cerulean with warmth and hope. "Stay with me? Always? Be my- Hell, be my wi- wife, Kagome?"

Kagome was dumbfounded. Her hands left his and came up to cover her mouth as she gasped at his open, honest declaration. Suddenly, four years of love, loss, and longing came flooding from her eyes and she caught her sobs with her hands.

Inuyasha panicked.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking. Please don't cry, Kagome. Way too soon for this, right?" He ducked down, trying to peer at her face, his hands coming up in midair to do… something. Anything!

Kagome looked up from her shaking hands with a face splitting smile and tears running down her cheeks. She reached up and took his face in her hands.

"You idiot, of course it's not! Yes! Yes!"

It was the first time she had ever really seen him smile. His face lit up, eyes crinkled, fangs flashing as he laughed. Then he swiftly closed the space between them and kissed her roughly, too excited to care how it seemed. She was his. He was hers. He was more than eager to show her what this meant to him. He took her small waist in his hands and lifted her flush to his chest as he held her kiss and slowly spun them around. Ebony and silver hair spun around them for a moment and they were in their own world, lost in their happiness.

…

Weeks later, the couple sat in Inuyasha's finished house on the far southern end of the village. He had moved in about a week ago after the last of the roofing was finished. Miroku was true to his word in his connection to suppliers from his home village. The roof was tiled and gorgeous. Three actual rooms surrounded a modest central room with a wide and welcoming porch on two sides. Two bedrooms faced the village and the third slightly larger room faced the forest and the neighboring field. The porch met the road in front and wrapped around toward the forest for late evening viewing. The fire pit was aglow with the dying embers used to cook dinner and the couple sat facing it together on the floor.

Inuyasha reclined against the wall and Kagome leaned back in his embrace, their hands folded together on her waist. This comfortability between them was becoming second nature. She found he was so open to physical contact and she was enjoying his touches. He knew this was normal for her where she had grown up so he expected it but they never dared in public. In this age, such liberties as an unmarried couple was scandalous at best and damning at worst.

"I know it's going to be hard without them but I made the decision to leave and I don't regret it." Kagome nuzzled under his chin from her position in his lap. He tightened a muscled left arm around her waist and stroked her shoulder with his right. Every breath brought more of her soothing scent to his nose.

The world outside was dark but the fire lit the couple entirely as they sat curled around each other in the middle of the room. It had only been a few weeks since Inuyasha asked Kagome to become his wife but they were both eager to start their new lives together so he had asked how she was feeling about the wedding coming so soon. Kaede had chosen the next full moon in just a few weeks as their most auspicious date.

"Was today rough?" she asked.

"Nah, just a few boar youkai trampling through a village nearby. They aren't smart but they're big and they hit hard. Miroku was right on with those ofuda this time. Stopped them in their tracks and then I take 'em out. It's almost boring."

"Be careful what you wish for, Inuyasha. Be happy to be bored."

"I'm not saying I want major trouble but a challenge might be nice once in a while."

"Maybe I'll invite Kouga to the wedding then. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to-"

"Nope."

"Aww, why not?" she frowned satirically at him.

"Don't start, wench. You know why not." He pinched at her ribs and sent her giggling.

"Anybody else you wanna invite?" she asked. When he shook his head, she thought for a moment. "Have you thought about asking, now don't get mad, Sesshoumaru to come to the wedding? I'm sure he-"

"No way. Even if he came, and that's a huge 'if,' it would make the village anxious and twitchy to have him here. Not to mention me. He might not come around to knock me off anymore but that doesn't mean he wants to be involved."

Kagome turned around in his arms, breaking free of his grip, and crossed her legs as she faced him down.

"Okay but don't you have any questions about demon marriage or anything like that? What about how hanyou babies are?"

Kagome swore she heard him choke on his tongue.

"What?! Wait just a second! We aren't even married yet! One thing at a time, woman."

She threw her hands up in front of her. "Don't get mad at me! We're getting married in a few weeks. Unless you wanna live a celibate married life, it's something we need to be thinking about." She could feel the heat of her own face over that of the fire but this was important.

"Celibate?"

"It means… you know, not ever… being together as husband and wife." She pushed the tips of her two index fingers together in the air in front of them in the hopes he'd get it.

"What? Not getting married you mean?" he cocked his head to the side and frowned, and she would have laughed at the inu-like expression if the conversation wasn't so serious.

"Oh my gods, Inuyasha. I have to spell it out. Not having sex, you idiot! It means not having sex ever."

"Gah! OK! I get it!"

He actually hid his face from her with his right hand then, turning away slightly. Just the mention of intimacy with Kagome was enough ignite the desire already burning in his blood, but he wouldn't entertain the tempting thoughts. Marrying him, as a hanyou, was going to be hard enough on her but he wouldn't risk any rumors spreading around the village about them before they were married. At this very moment, Kaede sat outside, their chaperone for the evening.

"Oh kami, Kaede's still outside, isn't she?!" the priestess squeaked out. Kagome realized the same time he did.

"Shit. Yep, old bat's heard it all now. Might as well come in, old woman!"

Kaede cleared her throat then and stepped through the bamboo screen into the house.

"I understand your concerns, children, but I can't help ye I'm afraid." She continued like their extreme embarrassment was nothing, aged wisdom taking over. "Hanyou like Inuyasha are rare enough but hanyou mixed with holy blood will be something new entirely. I doubt it has ever happened before. Alas, I couldn't ask the learned monks and priestesses I know without alerting them all to your marriage and inviting trouble to you and the village. I'm sorry, young ones, but in this, you will be very much alone."

Inuyasha's brows knit together and he shoved his hands in his sleeves, sadness showing on his face.

Kagome stood from her spot on the floor and faced Kaede then.

"Not alone." She reached down to Inuyasha, stirring him out of his thoughts. "We'll have each other."

She smiled down at him. Illuminated by the fire, she was glowing in the dark hut and reaching out for him. He felt his melancholy dissipate and stood to join hands with her, hopeful she was right.

...

Hope you liked this one and I promise it is eventually SessKag. Eventually. We have some plot to get through first though.