"What Could Be"
An Inu Yasha Fanfic by Nozomi
[A/N: This isn't my first attempt at a Fanfic nor the first one published, but this will be the first one I'll be posting on Fanfiction.Net, so let me know what you think. Also, I don't want the characters to be OOC, so do let me know if I'm getting carried away. -_- No flamers please. If you don't like my writing, you can go write your own fanfic (so there!), hehehe. Peace! ]
Disclaimer: Inu Yasha and company belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just a wannabe. ^_~
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Chapter 1: After the Storm
It was over.
This realization dawned on Kagome as she watched the Shikon no Tama in her hand change itself, a lavender swirl of color blending in with the black ebony smoke the little pearl seemed to be made of, until it fully engulfed the blackness. Moments ago, just before she had picked it up, it had been as dark as Naraku's soul, if he ever even had one. In her hands, the Shikon no Tama was purified from the evil that had defiled it.
Behind her, someone coughed. It wasn't to get her attention however. It was the cough of someone who was able to finally catch a deep breath. She turned her head to the sound, and found Miroku sprawled against a pile of debris. Sango was crawling towards the monk, her injured right leg preventing her from walking to him, which would have been faster.
On her left, Kirara meowed, and Kagome followed the sound to find the demon cat looming over Shippou, who was currently lying down on his stomach, his head resting on his arm. He was breathing, judging from the slow rise and fall of his back. Aside from the visible scratches on his body made obvious by his torn sleeves, he looked like he didn't suffer too many injuries. He wasn't bleeding much…
Bleeding…
Kagome stood up anxiously, looking for Inu Yasha. He had been bleeding badly when he unleashed his final attack on Naraku, and her last horrifying thought as the Bakuryuhaa's power filled the wasteland they had fought on, was that if he did not finish off Naraku soon, it would have meant his death.
She spotted Inu Yasha's red haori on her right and quickly ran over to him. He was lying on his back, and she feared the worst as she dropped down on her knees beside him.
"Inu… Yasha? Inu Yasha?!" she called out to him as she gently nudged his shoulders. No response. "Inu Yasha??" she said, her voice rising a notch as she frantically started shaking him, wishing him to open his eyes and tell her he was alright.
Tears started welling in her eyes. She heard Sango and Miroku making their way to her. She felt Kirara softly nuzzle her hand, perhaps in consolation. "Baka, get up! Tell me you're alright! It's me, Kagome…"
Still no response. Her eyes wandered to the wounds and cuts he had on his arms, chest and legs. He had given everything he had into this battle. So had Miroku, Sango and Kirara. Even Shippou had attempted some advanced kitsune magic today, just to help defeat their enemy. Kagome, who had no fancy moves or weapons, no demon blood, nor magic to help her friends, could only do so much with her Purifying arrows. But apparently, it had been enough. She felt no traces of Naraku's evil jaki anywhere, and without the Shikon no Tama, which was now safely in her hands, he was really gone for good. Inu Yasha had finally finished his quest to destroy Naraku. But at the cost of his life?
Her lips began to quiver at the thought that Inu Yasha was dead. NO! It can't be! she thought.
Inu Yasha.
Inu Yasha, whose temper was quick to flare, whose foul language and annoying habit of doing things before thinking, whose traits-- both good (although he would never admit it) and bad, spoke of how alive a creature he had been… she could not believe it.
Her heart wrenched at the thought that she would never even be able to tell him what she felt deep in her heart, a feeling she had kept inside her since the day she asked him if she could stay with him.
~~~ Flashback ~~~
She had returned to the Sengoku Jidai, and was sitting on the brim of the well that was her doorway to her two realities. She sat there, contemplating, wondering how to tell Inu Yasha what she had thought about that day.
And he had saved her the trouble by suddenly appearing at the clearing leading to the well.
She had turned in his direction, and time seemed to stop for her as she tried to gather her thoughts. And later on, when she wanted to tell him what she felt in her heart, she heard herself say
"Can I stay with you?"
~~~ End Flashback ~~~
Kagome could not hold the tears back anymore. Her lips quivered violently as she valiantly tried to stop the sob that threatened to escape from her lips. It was a futile effort at best. Her mouth had already formed the words and forced her to say them.
"Inu Yasha!!" she cried out, and threw herself over him in anguish.
She felt Sango drop down beside her, felt her arms go around her, trying to give her comfort. She heard Miroku quietly chanting beside them, hearing the swishing sound his sleeves made as he gestured his hands in a manner to offer prayers and blessings to their fallen comrade.
Speaking of fallen, she must have put the full force of her weight down on Inu Yasha when she threw herself onto him, because the body she was lying on suddenly moved.
"Oi."
Kagome quickly scrambled off him, and looked happily in surprise at the hanyou lying on the ground. His left eye was swollen, but his right eye was slightly open, and he was looking at her. She sighed in relief.
"Kagome, why are you crying?"
Inu Yasha's clawed hand slowly came in contact with her cheek, and he gently wiped the tears that had fallen with his thumb. She captured his hand in hers, and rubbed her cheek against his palm.
"I'm so glad you're alright," she choked.
His golden eyes searched into her blue ones, his concern evident. He smiled weakly at her.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. You kept me safe. Thank you. Will you be alright?"
"Keh. I've survived worse than this. Give me a few hours and I'll be good as new," he assured her. There was a silent pause as he took a deep breath then closed his eyes, not releasing their joined hands.
"I did it, didn't I? We got him, didn't we?"
It was the smug, boasting tone in his voice that finally made Kagome smile. She gave him the words she knew he longed to hear ever since they began their quest.
"Yes, Inu Yasha. Naraku is dead. We did it."
At her words, Inu Yasha mumbled a distinct keh. His hand fell limp in Kagome's grasp, and she knew that he had drifted off to unconsciousness once again. The grin on his face would have looked silly had the situation been less dramatic, but all the same, it made her smile wider. She looked up at Miroku and Sango, who looked at her with teary, joyful expressions on their faces. Kagome closed her eyes and clutched the momentarily-forgotten Shikon no Tama tightly in her hand.
It was FINALLY over.
[A/N: Bwahahahahaha… REALLY! You didn't think I'd kill Inu Yasha in the very first chapter, did you? YOU DID!? -_- Who could resist the adorable ears? Of course I wouldn't kill my favorite character in this anime.]
