~Chapter Eight~ ~Sweet as the cherry blossoms and mysterious as the shadowed moon~
~5 Years Later~
The sunlight filled the hut making it ever more wonderful as Kagome awoke with a yawn and a stretch.
Inu-Yasha lay beside her in peace, his sleeping face enchanting her as it always had.
5 years had passed since they had been together as lovers, and since their one and only daughter had been born.
Sango and Miroku had their own hut now and also had 2 children of their own! Twins to be exact!
They both looked a bit like both their parents. It was rather cute.
Kaede, being so old as she was, was now unable to get out of bed, so Sango, along with the help of her daughter, the girl of the twins, named MiMiru, did most of the priestesses work.
Miroku remained the monk of the village, and was training the boy of the twins, his son, named Miku, to be a great monk as well.
Inu-Yasha and Kagome on the other hand didn't do much.
Kagome helped out with Kaede and also with the nurse of the village, whom was still well working and healthy. Sometimes Kagome wondered if she'd ever get sick, even with a cold!!
Inu-Yasha hung around and did as you usually did, but he had sworn to protect the village from any demons that came near, for he knew that the simple village men couldn't do a very good job without him there.
He was highly respected, by some anyway. His past was still an issue with a few, but people knew that if they were to put Inu-Yasha down, they would be severely punished. No. Not by Inu-Yasha. But Kagome.
She protected him as well as he protected her.
She wouldn't stand for others making fun or putting down her Inu-Yasha, whom she loved more then life, the sun, moon, and earth combined.
Perhaps not much had changed.
Inu-Yasha still cursed a lot, although he was usually hit in the head when he did that in front of any children.
Miroku was still a lecher, even though he was Sango's soul mate. Nothing serious was going on between anyone else though, so Sango tried to ignore Miroku's sick ways.
Sango was still that serious, yet playful type, that every now and then, went out with Inu-Yasha to slay a demon or two near the village, for it brought back many memories of her old village and family.
Shippo was around as well, although he was now a teenager, rather handsome, and very attractive when it came to the ladies.
Finally, Kagome remained the beauty she always had been. Always kind to all, and hated the idea of killing. Although, because she had been living in the feudal era for 5 years now, she had gotten used to the fact that much killing had to be done in that time. She continued working on her archery, and one would be surprised to know that she was superior at it now! She, at times, went out to protect the Shikon jewel fragments she still had with her, from stalking beasts whom wanted it for themselves. She had grown ever wiser, and much more talented.
About Kikyo? She hadn't been seen or head from in those 5 long years ago when she tried to kill Kagome and lie to her in her dreams as Kagome tried to pull away from death and sickness, with the help of Inu-Yasha's love.
Inu-Yasha never thought of Kikyo, which was a good thing.
When he saw Kagome, that was what he saw.
Only her.
A beautiful young woman with kindness and love in her heart.
It truth, long ago, that was precisely what Kagome had been before Kikyo took her identity and almost tore Inu-Yasha and her apart forever.
Thank the heavens that Inu-Yasha and Kagome had been saved by one another, and pulled away from Kikyo's darkness, and into their own light.
Now everything was peaceful and new.
It was summer again, and perhaps Inu-Yasha and Kagome's greatest treasure they had found, or more less created themselves, was their sweet yet mysterious daughter, Karu.
She was already up, gone out of the hut, and into the forest to do, what else, but play.
Kagome slowly got up and looked down at Inu-Yasha.
She smiled as he sighed in his sleep and moved closer to her body.
She beamed down like an angel to watch over him.
He knew she was there.
Sometimes the two of them couldn't stand to be away from each other, but then again, once in a while, they would have a little fight, but nothing serious.
Ones such as them with so much in common were most likely to have little tiffs now and then.
The anger lasted at the most, 2 hours, for soon they would realize how much they loved one another and say the words "I'm so sorry" repeatedly for a week or more!!!
Kagome hated to get up. She wanted to cuddle up in Inu-Yasha's arms and never leave them, but such a thing couldn't be done.
Not with a 5 year old running about as she pleases!!
Kagome quickly got into her normal day kimono, a beautiful jade green one with pink lilies on it, and brushed out her hair.
For some reason, she found it much easier to brush and keep clean her hair because of the lack of dirt in the air in the feudal era.
She looked to Inu-Yasha one last time.
She couldn't stand it.
She rushed over and hugged his sleeping form tightly, kissing his head.
There was no getting over him.
Every day it was as if they had just fallen in love or something.
The love they felt was so pure and untainted with bothers or hatred, that it came natural though.
He slowly awoke and looked up at her.
"What's wrong?" He questioned.
Kagome shook her head.
"I love you so much." She whispered.
One may think it became old after about a million times of saying that, but Inu-Yasha or Kagome didn't.
Saying such a thing was as if it was the first time they had told one another, and such passion they felt was almost unbearable at times.
Inu-Yasha smiled and nudged closer to her. "I know. I love yah too."
Kagome held him just a bit tighter before letting go and standing up.
"I'll be back. I'm gonna go find Karu. She left again too early for me to catch up!!" She explained.
Inu-Yasha smiled. "I'm gonna rest just a bit more. I have no clue why I'm so tired today, but I am. I figure I'd better take this precious time to rest up before I have to listen to that girl scream all day, I swear she gets it from you."
Kagome scowled. "Oh really? Well….I'll just have to watch her very carefully and pick out something that she gets from you! So there!"
She stuck out her tongue and rushed out of the hut.
Inu-Yasha laid back down and smiled.
"She pisses me off so much…but you gotta love her!!" He stated.
~With Kagome~
Kagome walked through the forest and smelled the scent of the summer breeze.
"Wow. Time goes by so quickly it's almost not fair. Karu's birthday is almost already here, and she'll be 6!! And that means that it's almost been 7 years since Inu-Yasha and I have been together like this as lovers, and already 9 years or so since we first met. Well…actually we met a long time ago, perhaps hundreds of years before now! We were spirits and we were meant to find one another, before……Kikyo came along." Kagome had trouble even still with Kikyo.
The very fact that Kikyo had intended to kill Inu-Yasha after taking back Kagome's soul, made Kagome want to just slap Kikyo across the face and set the fake priestess straight that Inu-Yasha was his own. He wasn't a simple play thing she could toss around. He was a living, breathing, wonderful, human being, and if Kikyo ever again dared to attempt such a thing, Kagome would for sure send Kikyo flying to the next star.
Kagome quickly shook the horrible thought out of her head. Such memories shouldn't even dwell in her mind, and yet they do. But she couldn't keep on thinking about it. She had to face the future and look forward to it all, and know that she would never have to worry about Kikyo. Never again would she have to stress that the walking dead-priestess would come back and take her Inu-Yasha away. And even if she did try, Kagome would never let go on his hand. Never.
Kagome was suddenly shot out of her positive thinking as birds fly rapidly from the trees above.
Kagome looked up in confusion.
"What? What's wrong with those birds? They look like they've seen a ghost or something." She stated.
She sighed and continued to walk.
The sun was becoming hotter now as the afternoon approached with speed.
A sudden splash was heard from up ahead and Kagome quickly rushed to see what it was.
She pushed back some bushes and tree limbs, looked towards the river in front of her, and found what she had been looking for this whole time.
There, sitting at the edge of the river, was a small girl.
She had black hair running down to the middle of her back, about the same length as Kagome's.
When the girl turned, Kagome was continued to this day to be stunned at the beautiful color of golden-brown in the child's eyes, and the features that clearly showed who her mother and father were.
She had Kagome's smile and lovely face, and yet somewhere in there, you knew she had Inu-Yasha in her as well.
The girl's kimono was rather nice too. It was a cute shade of yellow, with white blossoms on it.
Her hair was all down, except for two front strands that fell from the sides of her forehead down to her chest, which were tied in perfect braids.
The girl smiled and quickly got to her feet, running to Kagome's side.
"Mama!!!" She cried as she fell into her mother's arms.
Kagome hugged the child with much love.
"What are you doing out here this morning? You didn't wait for me or your father, you know, and there could be demons out at the time you left!" Kagome explained.
The girl, of course, named Karu, nodded.
"I know……but…I can handle them!! I can destroy them really easily!! Just like Daddy does!!!" She complained.
Kagome patted her daughter's head. "I know….but still…don't leave the house without telling someone, okay?"
Karu sighed. "Yes, mama."
Kagome nodded. "Okay! Now that that's settled, what do yah say we go find your daddy?"
Karu's face immediately lit up. "Okay!! Let's go now!! Come on, mama!!! Come on!!"
Kagome laughed as Karu pulled her along.
Karu loved Kagome very much, and it was just a girl thing for a daughter and a mother to have such a love and bond, but Karu absolutely adored and loved to death Inu-Yasha.
He knew it too.
He loved her just as much.
After all, she was his one and only, and Karu changed his life forever.
Simply knowing that he had become something so grand, and was loved by a child with a bright smile and a beautiful future, was enough for him to not resist when Karu would reach up and take his hand for guidance.
Karu rushed ahead of Kagome and ran into the hut with a fast speed.
In an instant, Kagome heard Inu-Yasha cry out and Karu's laughter.
She began to giggle as well when she found her daughter and lover on the floor of the hut, Karu hugging Inu-Yasha a bit too tightly.
"Okay, okay! You scared me!" Inu-Yasha gasped through Karu's tight grasp.
Karu laughed and let go.
"Sorry, daddy, but I wanted to see you! I missed you all day! You are very lazy. You should be getting up with me so that mama won't scold me for being out when demons can get me!!" Karu continued on.
Like children do, she could have rambled on like that forever, explaining things Inu-Yasha couldn't even tell what!
"Right! I shouldn't be so lazy. I'll get up with yah earlier tomorrow." He promised.
Karu jumped up and smiled. "Okay!!"
Kagome placed her hand on Karu's head.
"My goodness! You're a bit hyper today, aren't you? And why is that?" She stated.
Karu grinned. "Cause Shippo-kun promised me that he would take me out to see the big flower place!!"
Inu-Yasha and Kagome stared. "The….flower place????" Inu-Yasha questioned.
Karu nodded. "Uh Huh! He said that there were lots of flowers there that I could pick for everyone that I love! It's where you go to get those kinds of flowers! That's what he said!!!"
"Alright then. Will you get one for me?" Kagome questioned leaning over to Karu's face.
Inu-Yasha nodded. "Me too? Yah love me, don't you?"
Karu smiled brightly. "Yes. I love you both very much! Okay! I need to go now! Shippo-kun will be waiting for me by the river!! Sorry!! I'll be back later on!!!"
And before Inu-Yasha or Kagome could say another word, the little child was out of the hut and running up the path towards the river with a rather quick pace.
Kagome beamed after her.
Then there was silence.
"…………now what?" Kagome wondered aloud.
Inu-Yasha ran his hand across the floor and by Kagome's foot.
Then with care, but quickly, grabbed her by the legs and sent her to the floor into his lap.
She opened her eyes after closing them and laid her head down onto his chest.
"Are…you okay??" Inu-Yasha wondered as he looked down to her in confusion.
Kagome laughed softly. "No…..Do you have a problem with me loving you so much?"
Inu-Yasha smiled. "Not at all. Love me as much as you wish."
Kagome smiled. How she loved it this way.
There were no worries. Just love, peace, friendship, and happiness.
In just peaceful times though, one would never expect to hear of something horrible. Something that may as well tear apart a love so strong, that it could defeat anything, but this.
~In the village~
Sango walked with her daughter MiMiru and her son Miku in the village market place.
"Mommy!! I want that!! Please! I think it says that the dolly was made by a famous person!!" MiMiru shouted as she saw a doll hanging in a stand.
"Mom!!! Look at that wooden sword!! Or those fake charms!!!! I WANT ONE!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Exclaimed Miku at the same time, pulling on Sango's arm as if it were made of rubber.
"Now! You two better pipe down or I'll not buy you what we really came here for!!!" Sango scolded.
"Yes." The two twins said at the same time in a depressed tone.
"Excuse me!!! Lady Sango!!!!!" Called a stand owner from behind the three.
Sango turned at the sound of her name and stared at the woman that had shouted to her.
"Yes? What do you need?" She questioned once she got near the stand.
"I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I remember the stories, and so I figured you might know of the priestess Kikyo?" The woman stated.
Sango stuttered at the name. "If you don't mind, I have better things to do then stand around and speak of such a terrible woman. Good day." She snapped.
The woman in the stand grabbed Sango's arm quickly.
"Please!!! If you think of her as such, then I do as well!! I wanted to tell you. I overheard of two men talking the other day. It seems that the priestess Kikyo…whom has been missing from existence for almost 6 years, has been spotted!!! Headed this way too!!!!!!!" She exclaimed.
Sango's eyes widened.
Without another second wasted, Sango took the woman's collar of her kimono, and brought her up to meet her eyes.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THIS INFORMATION!!! WHO WERE THE MEN!!!!! HOW LONG AGO DID YOU HEAR THIS!!!!???" She screamed.
MiMiru and Miku stared at their mother.
"Mommy?" MiMiru questioned.
The woman in the stand shook her head. "I know non or this information, except I heard it over a week ago, in the south!!!"
Sango let the woman go and stared off towards Inu-Yasha and Kagome's hut.
"I have to go warn them!!!" She shouted in a whisper as she ran off down the road.
MiMiru and Miku stared after her.
"Miku? What's wrong with mommy?" MiMiru asked.
Miku shrugged. "I don't know, but I think we'd better follow her to Aunty Kagome and Uncle Inu-Yasha's hut! And quickly!!"
MiMiru nodded, and soon they were racing after the fast Sango.
*WHY!!!??? WHY IS THAT BITCH STILL LIVING!!?? WHAT DOES SHE WANT!!!?? I'D BETTER HURRY…OR SOMEONE WILL BE HURT IN INU-YASHA'S FAMILY!!!! I JUST KNOW THAT'S WHAT KIKYO'S AFTER!!!! MAYBE………* Sango paused her fast moving thoughts.
"………Karu………" She whispered.
She continued to run faster on the road, staring towards Inu-Yasha and Kagome's hut with much concern.
~Hi! Yep! This thingy goes on and on doesn't it!!! Ahhhhh!!! Well, don't worry! I'm only planning on either 1 or 2 more chapties, and then I'm quiten, kay!!! Sorry if you're sick and tired of reading!!! DON'T LEAVE THOUGH!!!! It's getting good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To me…….um…yeah! HeHe!~
~chibikagome1@yahoo.com~
