Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha. Those are the property of one Rumiko Takahashi. I thank her whole-heartedly for giving us such an amazing manga/anime to read/watch.

One Heart – Chapter 10

Kagome continued to look back and forth between Inu-Yasha's two halves. At first she thought neither would answer, but after a moment of silence, Human Inu-Yasha spoke.

"This is where we first split into two separate beings, right?"

Kagome nodded mutely, still not sure what the two young men had in mind. One thing that had caught her attention was the fact that they had stopped arguing. In fact, they almost seemed to be cooperating with each other. She had been sure that the thought of getting back to Kikyou would have been enough to make them want to recombine, but after their reactions she knew her plan had not worked. At least not directly. It was not Kikyou, but something else that was drawing them together.

She glanced at each of them, searching their faces for some clue to why they had stopped fighting. And, why they had brought her to the well.

Youkai Inu-Yasha broke the silence. "Can you choose between the two of us?"

Choose? No, she knew she could never choose between the two of them. They were both part of Inu-Yasha. Her Inu-Yasha. The stubborn, arrogant, short-tempered hanyou who had won her heart. She felt a lump in her throat as she let her feelings for him wash through her.

"You know I can't," she said quietly.

"I'm not willing to give you up," the youkai said as he glanced at his human counterpart.

"Well, don't look at me. I'm not willing to give her up, either."

"And, since Kagome won't pick between us, there's only one thing we can do. "

Human Inu-Yasha nodded. "We're hurting her this way."

Once again Kagome looked from one to the other, not letting herself hope too much for what seemed to be happening. Could they really be cooperating because of her?

"Kagome," the two Inu-Yasha's said in unison. There was something in the tone of their voices that caught her attention.

Human Inu-Yasha stepped towards her. "What is it you really want, Kagome?"

Kagome closed her eyes. Her mind's eye saw an image of Inu-Yasha, but, not how he stood before her now. She could picture his soft, golden eyes. His mouth turned up in a smirk. Long, silvery-white hair framing his boyishly handsome face. And, on top of it all, two perfect triangles of flesh and fur perched on the top of his head. Those wonderful ears. She wondered if she would every be able to reach out and rub them again. She knew it irritated Inu-Yasha when she did, but there was something about them she just couldn't resist.

"I want Inu-Yasha," she whispered.

"I'm right here," two voices said in stereo.

"No." She shook her head. "I want my Inu-Yasha back."

She could feel tears building up behind her tightly shut eyelids. She didn't want to cry again, but she had never before felt so helpless, so lost. The light touch of an arm going around her surprised her. She opened her eyes to see both Inu-Yasha's at her side.

"We have no choice," Human Inu-Yasha said as he looked at his youkai half.

"Feh," Youkai Inu-Yasha countered. "I'm doing this under protest." However, the softness in his voice as he looked at Kagome suggested otherwise.

Kagome found herself wrapped in their arms. For a moment she wasn't sure where one Inu-Yasha started and the other ended, both held her so closely. She found herself lifting her arms and circling them around both Inu-Yasha's shoulders, her fingers weaving through their hair as she clung to them.

"Kagome." Again the voices spoke in unison.

Kagome closed her eyes tightly, fighting back the urge to cry as she buried her face between them. Once again she could picture the hanyou Inu-Yasha in her mind's eye. Her Inu-Yasha. Each of his halves held part of him, but each was just that. A half. What she wanted at that moment, more than anything she had ever wished for, was for him to be back to normal.

She could feel a warmth spread through her as her emotions came together with the realization of what he really meant to her. She tightened her hold on them as her feelings became crystal clear.

"I love you, Inu-Yasha," she cried softly. "I love you."

A soft blue glow started at her fingertips and gently spread around them until all three were enveloped in its warm touch. The shimmering light circled around them, blurring the outlines of both human and youkai as they appeared to merge into one. Kagome could feel her arms move closer together as a single set of arms held her close to him.

"Inu-Yasha?" She looked up in amazement as the blue glow slowly faded.

A single figure stood next to her, his head lowered as he hugged her to himself. Silvery white hair flowed around her fingers as they still clung to him. For a moment she was afraid to let her vision move upwards, but she had to know.

Yes, there, on top of his head, rising out of his tuft of bangs, were two perfect triangles of flesh and fur. They moved slightly as Kagome let out an involuntary gasp.

"What's wrong?" Inu-Yasha moved Kagome away from her and studied her face.

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's just perfect."

Kagome knew it was useless to resist the urge that made first one hand, and then the other, reach up to his ears and lightly rub them.

Inu-Yasha chuckled softly and pulled her back into his embrace. "One of these days I'll have to tell you exactly what that does to me, Kagome."

Embarrassed, she let her hands slip down to his shoulders and looked at him. Yes, he was back to normal. Well, almost. There was something different about him, but what it was eluded her.

"Thank you," he murmured near her ear.

"For what?"

Inu-Yasha hugged her more firmly. "For not giving up. For believing in me." He paused, taking a deep breath as he gently stroked her hair. "For loving me."

Kagome buried her face against his shoulder, suddenly embarrassed by the fact that she had told him her feelings. "You don't have to thank me."

Wait a minute, Kagome thought. Had Inu-Yasha actually just said thank you to her? There definitely was something different about him. She stepped back from him and gave him a questioning look.

"Okay, what did you do with the real Inu-Yasha? You almost never say thank you, and even then it's usually for me giving you something to eat."

Inu-Yasha chuckled again. In a sudden movement he lowered himself to a crossed-legged position on the ground, bringing Kagome with him. She found herself sitting on his lap, his arms wound tightly around her.

"I've never been good about saying what I feel. I guess I'm always afraid I'll say the wrong thing. Or, that someone will reject me." His hand lightly stroked Kagome's hair as he looked into her eyes.

Kagome nodded mutely, studying his face as he spoke. His expression was relaxed and gentle, something she had only seen before when he was sleeping. She was so focused on looking at him that the touch of his hand on her cheek startled her.

"There's something I need to tell you," he said softly as he cupped her chin in his hand. He leaned towards her, the warmth of his breath tickling her mouth as he said softly, "I love you, too, Kagome."

His lips met hers. Kagome closed her eyes and let her feelings for him take over. She wrapped her arms around him as she relaxed her lips, amazed at how wonderful his kiss felt. She had imagined this moment a thousand times, but the reality was more amazing than anything her mind had conjured up.

He finally broke the kiss to pull her tightly against him. "Does this mean you'll be my woman?"

Kagome smiled and snuggled against him. "Definitely, if that's what you want."

"It's what I've wanted for a long time, Kagome. I just wasn't sure it was what you wanted."

They remained in each other's arms, enjoying just being with each other. Inu-Yasha buried his face in her hair, drinking deeply of her scent as he gently stroked her hair and shoulder with one hand.

They both nearly jumped at the sound of voices outside the door of the mini-shrine.

"But, Mama, I can't find Kagome." Souta's youthful voice was filled with concern.

"Don't worry, Souta, " Mama said softly. "As long as she's with Inu-Yasha, she'll be fine. Right now I want you to go and get washed up for dinner."

They could hear the sound of Souta sprinting off in the direction of the house. Mama appeared to pause by the door of the shrine, but turned and walked slowly back to the house after a moment.

Inu-Yasha chuckled again and moved to stand up. He lifted Kagome with him and stood her on the floor next to him.

"I almost forgot. There's something I have to do." He turned and jumped effortlessly to the rim of the well. Before Kagome could protest, he quickly grabbed onto the edge and lowered himself to the dirt floor at the bottom.

Kagome could hear him moving in the darkness below, realizing that he had climbed down and not jumped. After all, they didn't know if the well would be safe for him to travel through.

A moment later he reappeared at the edge, lifting himself over the lip to stand facing Kagome. One hand held the Tessaiga, and he waved it in the air in triumph.

"I don't want this to be too far from me." He slid the scabbard into the cord that he used to hold it with. He continued to hold his other hand behind him, smirking at Kagome as he moved towards her.

"I was scared you would try to go through the well, " Kagome sighed. "After all, we don't know if it's safe for you to pass through it yet. Remember what happened the last time."

Inu-Yasha nodded and then brought his hidden hand forward. In it was his rosary, the ivory claws glowing eerily in the dim light in the well house.

"The rosary." That was right. Kagome remembered that he had been missing it before. Apparently it had fallen on the floor of the well when he was split into two. She gave him a puzzled look. What was he planning to do with it, she wondered.

Inu-Yasha held the rosary at arm's length, eying it with an unreadable expression on his face. Suddenly he brought it to him, lifting it with both hands over his head and letting it drop around his neck.

"Why did you do that? You were finally free of it."

Inu-Yasha moved towards Kagome again. "It links me to you, and that's not such a bad thing, is it? Now, if you can just learn to be a little more patient with me and not use the damned thing as much…"

Kagome blushed and looked away from him. She was acutely aware that she had overused the subduing spell of the rosary a little more than was necessary in the past. But, looking at the calm, relaxed expression on Inu-Yasha's face, it occurred to her that perhaps she wouldn't need it at all in the future. There was definitely something different about him. A calmness that showed in both his words and actions. He was suddenly confident without being cocky. She found herself wondering at the change in him.

"I don't think you'll need to use this much any more, Kagome. Thanks to you, I'm finally at peace with myself."

Peace with himself? Was it possible that the constant arguing that she had seen his two halves doing was something that had been going on inside of him all this time? How could he have lived with that much internal conflict?

"I promise I'll be more careful about using it, Inu-Yasha. Of course, sometimes habits can be hard to break," she giggled.

He lunged at her, pulling her to the floor of the mini-shrine and taking her into his arms. "I guess I'll just have to make sure you can't say the word." He covered her mouth with his own and kissed her gently.

"Some of us do need to breathe," she gasped when he finally moved his lips from hers. She slipped her arms around him tightly, not wanting the moment to end. They held each other for several minutes, simply enjoying the other's company. Finally, Kagome broke the silence.

"We need to find out about the well."

Inu-Yasha released her and sat up, turning to stare at the old bone-eater's well. It was their pathway between his time and hers, but more recently it had become the source of all their problems. What if he wasn't going to be able to travel through it without being spilt into two again?

"I think I should go through and see what I can find out on the other side. That's where the spell was probably cast, after all, and maybe I can do something to erase it." Kagome stood and brushed the dust off her clothing as she looked at the old well.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Inu-Yasha started. He shook his head as he realized that they didn't really have any other choice. "Just be sure you come right back. Don't leave me here getting worried about you."

Kagome nodded and touched the jar of shards that hung around her neck. As long as she had these, she would be able to pass through without him. However, if probably wouldn't hurt to be prepared, so she quickly grabbed her bow and arrows, which she had left near the well. Everything had been so mixed up when they came through the well the last time.

"Don't worry. I'll check it out and be right back. If I need help, I can get Kaede and Miroku. They would probably know more about any spells than I would, after all."

Inu-Yasha nodded silently and pulled her to him. "Remember, I love you. Be careful." He kissed her gently before watching her turn and climb to the rim of the well. Then she was gone.

The familiar sensation of traveling through the well greeted Kagome as she jumped. She remembered being scared the first few times, but now actually liked the way it felt. If someone could just duplicate the sensation on a ride at the fair, they'd be rich.

It only took a moment for the feeling of hard ground to appear under her feet. Kagome glanced up and saw several vines dangling from the rim of the well. She had made it, and apparently it hadn't done anything to her. She quickly climbed out and glanced around the surrounding area before concentrating her attention on the well itself.

At first she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Then, just as she moved to study the last side, she saw what appeared to be a fuda clinging to the rough wood of the well. Kagome dropped to her knees by it to get a closer look, noticing that the slip of paper had a small tear where it was attached to the wood. There was nothing there, but she could sense the faint aura of the Shikon no tama. She looked closer and could only guess that someone had secured the fuda to the well with a Shikon shard. The shard had since been taken away, apparently since it had done what it was meant to do – add power to the spell that was placed on the well.

Kagome quickly removed the paper and tore it up. She made several more circuits of the well, making certain that she hadn't missed anything before she jumped back through it and to Inu-Yasha.

Inu-Yasha waited impatiently in Kagome's time. He had finally been able to tell Kagome how he felt. If something were to happen to her because of him, he would never be able to live with himself.

What's taking so long? he thought.

Suddenly he heard a sound at the bottom of the well and saw Kagome's head peek over the rim. He reached out and lifted her, bringing her petite form to stand just in front of him. He pulled her to him, touching his lips gently to hers.

"I was starting to worry," he scolded gently.

"I double-checked everything. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything," she explained. She reached up and gave him a quick kiss. "I sure don't want to go through having two of you around again, " she giggled.

Inu-Yasha winced in mock horror. "Don't remind me."

"Anyway, I found a fuda on the well. There was a sense of the Shikon no tama there, but it was faded. I can only guess that someone used a Shikon shard to help power the spell on the fuda. The shard's long gone, and I destroyed the fuda. I checked the entire well, but that's the only thing I found."

Inu-Yasha nodded and glanced at the well. "There's only one way to find out for sure," he observed as he made his way to the well's edge.

"We'll go together." Kagome reached out and took his hand. For the first time, he didn't hesitate before holding her slender hand firmly in his own.

Inu-Yasha nodded silently and took a deep breath.

Kagome smiled at him and gave his hand a squeeze. "On the count of three?"

He smiled back and her and nodded, turning to let her climb onto his back.

She quickly counted to three, after which he jumped past the rim and into the darkness of the well.

The ripping sensation he had felt on his last trip through the well was absent. It felt like any other time as the hard floor of the well met his feet. Inu-Yasha quickly lowered Kagome from his back and turned to face her. The look on her face told him that the well had worked. Tessaiga still hung from his waist and he reached up to touch the rosary, which circled his neck.

"Looks like it worked, " he grunted as he glanced up at the sky above them. He scooped Kagome into his arms and jumped, taking them both to the soft grass surrounding the weathered wood of the well.

Everything appeared normal as Inu-Yasha quickly scanned the area. He knew better than to expect the person responsible to be around, but he still wanted to make sure.

A small, furry, warm projectile zoomed past him and hit Kagome, nearly taking her off her feet.

"Kagome!" Shippou squealed with delight as Kagome lifted her hands to hold him. "You've been gone so long. I was worried you weren't ever coming back."

"I'm sorry, Shippou. We didn't mean to make you worry."

"What do you mean, we. I was just worried about you, Kagome."

Shippou winced as Inu-Yasha's hand came in contact with his head. The kitsune opened his eyes in surprise, suddenly realizing that the hanyou was patting his head instead of hitting it. The little youkai looked up at Inu-Yasha. "Huh?"

Inu-Yasha just laughed. "You know I would never let anything happen to Kagome. You didn't have to be so worried."

Shippou's eyes opened even wider, shocked at the sound of Inu-Yasha's laugh. Laugh? The closest thing he had heard Inu-Yasha do to was a sarcastic scoff. Now, the hanyou was patting him on the head and laughing?

The kitsune climbed onto Kagome's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "I think something's wrong with Inu-Yasha."

Inu-Yasha's ears perked at the comment and he laughed again. "No, Shippou. There's nothing wrong with me. Thanks to Kagome, things have never been better."

Shippou saw Inu-Yasha moving towards him and jumped away, expecting the hanyou to revert to his normal behavior and send the little youkai flying across the grassy field. He hid behind Kagome and looked on in surprise as Inu-Yasha leaned towards her and kissed her.

"He's possessed!" Shippou squealed before taking off like a bullet in the direction of Kaede's village.

"Looks like we have some explaining to do. We better go and straighten this out before Shippou has everyone believing I'm possessed," Inu-Yasha commented dryly before taking Kagome's hand and walking with her in the direction of the village. He stopped and pulled her to him. "Of course, it would be fun to see what they try to do about it. Hell, we have our entire lives to straighten them out."

He slid his arms around her and held her close before placing his lips once again on hers. "This is nice," he murmured in her ear. "I think I'd like to do a lot more of it."

Kagome's hands slid to his ears, gently massaging the base before stroking them softly.

"Remember when I told you that I'd tell you what that does to me?" He leaned towards her and placed his lips by her ear, whispering into it.

Kagome reacted, pulling back from him and blushing heavily.

"Hey, don't stop, " he laughed. "After all, you are my woman. And besides, I like it."

Kagome blushed again, turning to walk towards the village. He caught up with her and took her hand, smiling as they walked together towards their future.