'Ten years,' he thought to himself as he walked along the streets of Tokyo, his long black coat trailing behind him like a cloak, his hair was happily hidden underneath a hat; only small wisps of the silver strands met the world. The rain drizzled around him much like that day not so long ago. He remembered the day so clearly, like he'd experienced it only yesterday instead of ten years prior. The time was growing near, and he was hurrying to Kagome's home. The time when the well would seal was close.

He jumped the stairs in a single bond, once he was positive that no one was looking at him. Darting quickly into the shadows, Inu-yasha made his way to the God Tree, where he could get a good look at when Kagome would appear out of the well. It had taken him a very long time to calculate the day that Kagome would reappear on this side forever, but he was positive it would at least happen this week, and he was willing to wait that long.

Over the past decade, he had watched over Kagome, watching her grow and protecting her like the angel she thought he was. Her guardian angel or some nonsense like that. How absurd, a grown, aging hanyou considered an angel after so many years of ridicule and distaste for his blood. But even at such a young age, Inu-yasha was amazed that Kagome had accepted him when so many others had cast him aside like last weeks garbage or a Christmas present half an hour after opening it. Nothing.

His eyes looked to the well sadly, waiting for the woman he loved deeply to reappear. He had watched her be dragged into the well for the first time, and couldn't help but smile at how adorable she was when she had that look of fear on her face. He knew that she was cared for on the other side, and did not worry. He had watched her father die from a deadly sickness when she was ten. He watched her flirt with Hojo (god damn it), and many other things that happened throughout his life. He couldn't help but crack a smile whenever his past self would hop through the well to retrieve Kagome. He remembered those times so well, sweet memories he cherished almost as much as Kagome herself. He was a stubborn little bastard at that time, who was too afraid to admit that he loved her.

If only he'd been stronger, he could have told her, and maybe things could have been different. Maybe he wouldn't have been forced to spend so many years alone, traveling the country side, never really safe to stay in one place for too long, hence someone got suspicious, never able to even look at other girls because of the bitter feeling of betrayal he felt when the thought of loving someone other than Kagome.

He was alone during that time. Kirara had fallen in battle long ago, Shippou had found a fox clan to grow with and he had no idea where he was, and the only other demons he knew were Sesshoumaru and Kouga, and he couldn't care less where they were.

Sighing, he felt his eye lids grow heavy as he drifted off into a bitter sleep.

---

Kagome lay on her bed crying softly, it had been over a month since the well had been sealed and she missed Inu-yasha and the others terribly. But mostly Inu-yasha, she always had dreams of him. Dreams that seemed so vivid and memorable. It was so weird, she saw flashes of him, but she was always younger, he seemed to always be there when she was young, like he was watching over her.

But her favorite dream was the one when she was in the field surrounded by trees, she was young, like four or five, and he'd tripped over her small body and fallen flat on his face. They had had a conversation, though the words were long since forgotten in the sands of time, but she remembered that he had comforted her and brought her back home, or convinced her to do something. It was distant and it was slowly slipping from her memory.

But she missed her hanyou dearly. The rain plummeted her window and she remembered how much she'd always liked the rain. It had such a comforting nature and was always so calming.

Getting up and drying her tears, which had been shed for over a month, she opened her window and inhaled the sweet smell of fresh rain. The world was completely cleansed. She missed Inu-yasha dearly, once the jewel was complete she had no reason to remain in the past and the jewel had flung her back.

And what made it even more unbearable was the fact that Inu-yasha admitted that he loved her and wanted to be with her until his last breath. That he wanted to be with her, not Kikyo, was the most wonderful thing she had ever heard. And then she was gone.

"Why?" she whispered into the wind that gently blew by, "Why did Inu-yasha have to leave me?"

---

"Why?" a voice whispered against the wind, "Why did Inu-yasha have to leave me?"

Opening his golden eyes, he looked around for the source of the voice and his eyes locked onto Kagome, who was crying softly at her window, looking off towards the well house sadly. Inu-yasha couldn't believe it, she was already home? He cursed himself for his poor math skills and leaned closer to her, while still remaining hidden. Now that the moment was on him, he felt that he could just die happy, to see Kagome alive and well. He could approach her now, without fear of screwing up whatever might happen in the feudal era. He no longer had to worry of running into his past self. Kagome was his again. And on the other side of the well, his past self was beginning the journey he had now just completed.

He was about to confront his Kagome, when she closed the window and walked away. Cursing, he plotted. Just walking up to her door and knocking wouldn't be good. 'Hey I'm here how you doing?'

No, that wouldn't be smart at all. Waiting it out was out of the question, he'd waited five hundred years and he was practically giddy with the fact that she was right there, touchable again.

His thoughts were jerked to a halt, when Kagome walked out carrying an umbrella. She made her way slowly to the well house, and Inu-yasha found himself following her. She paused at the door before sliding it open. Inu- yasha cautiously watched from the doorway as she kneeled to the well and looked inside before jumping in. Inu-yasha raised a skeptical eyebrow, had he measured it all wrong, was she still traveling with his past self?

But alas, instead of seeing the faint blue hue of the portal, Kagome met ground. "Damn," she muttered sadly, "It really doesn't work."

Inu-yasha braced himself to bolt until, "Great, the ladders missing, how am I supposed to get up?"

Inu-yasha blinked and saw the said rope ladder coiled into a small ball in the corner. Smiling softly he grabbed in and threw it down. Kagome gasped softly in surprise. "Who's there?"

Inu-yasha said nothing but instead shook the ladder a little to tell her to hurry and climb out.

A gentle tugging on the rope signaled that Kagome was climbing up.

He felt his heart start to race with anticipation, and his hands tightened around the rope, he was going to be able to be with her again, be able to hold her as he once did, but this time it would be different. He wouldn't waste any opportunity.

Kagome's head emerged from the well and their gazes locked. Inu-yasha felt like his heart would explode at being so close to her.

"Inu-yasha...?" she whispered disbelieving.

---

"Inu-yasha...?" Kagome gasped out in surprise. She had to be imagining it, Inu-yasha couldn't be here, he was in the feudal era. How could he have gotten here? She stood hesitantly and looked at him with wide eyes. "Is this real?"

Inu-yasha looked at her and she saw the golden eyes she had grown to love so much, but they were so different. They were older, wiser looking eyes, eyes that have seen things that she would never see. He had grown and aged a little bit, but it was still the Inu-yasha she loved.

She took a hesitant step forward and stared at him, trying to see if her mind was playing tricks on her, "Inu-yasha..."

"Kagome," Inu-yasha gasped out, his eyes pained and he allowed all the emotions to come tumbling from within him. Kagome launched herself at him and he met her with equal relief and happiness as they locked into each other's arms, rocking back and forth from foot to foot. "Oh Kagome!"

Kagome felt tears of happiness spilling down her cheeks as she grasped the hanyou tightly, she sobbed with all the built up emotions over the past month and felt like she'd died and gone to heaven. His warm arms encased her into a forever portal of warmth and she felt complete and perfect, like she had the night before Naraku died.

It took a moment for her to realize that she wasn't the only one shedding tears. Inu-yasha's shoulders heaved and his body racked with sobs of complete and utter bliss. Her shoulder that his head rested on was slowly becoming damp from the tears and he shed. His arms tightened around her to make sure this was real, that he wasn't having a cruel dream.

"Inu-yasha," Kagome whispered softly and removed the hat that hid his ears. The silver locks tumbled down his back and she happily ran her fingers through the soft hair. "Oh how I've missed you."

Inu-yasha pulled away and looked at her for a long moment. He reached up and ran a clawed finger down her cheek, across her chin and back up the other cheek. She was real, the god's weren't playing a cruel joke on him, his Kagome was standing and looking at him.

"I've missed you too, Kagome," he said softly as he rested his forehead against hers, their eyes locked, "If only you knew how much."

"How'd you get here?" Kagome asked, "The well is blocked."

Inu-yasha smirked his usual smirk, but it didn't look so threatening or grumpy as it once was, maybe because his eyes showed only the love he had for her or the small tears that fell down his cheeks. "There are other ways to cross time, my love."

It took a moment for Kagome to comprehend what he had just said and she smiled widely, "Y-you did that, for me?"

"I'd do anything to be with you," he said tenderly as his breath caressed her lips, "I'll die for you. I'll wait for eternity if it meant that I could be with you one more time."

Kagome reached up and cupped his face with her hands, "Oh Inu-yasha."

Her heart felt as if it would burst when the words from the hanyou trailed around her and wrapped around her heart. These words of love that she had waited for so long to hear were as tender and loving as she had imagined and she felt like she was walking on clouds.

"I love you," he said so quietly that she almost didn't hear it, a simple caress along her face as his breath tickled her skin and made her shiver. Those three little words had the most impact on her then any long monologue could ever bring. They held his deepest desire, his largest fear, his hesitance, his loyalty, and his deep passion for the one he cherished most, all strung together into one simple sentence. These words that she had ached to hear for so long were a beacon of light through the dark she had resided in for so long. The way he looked at her confirmed that he meant what he said, that he loved her deeper than words could express.

She felt fresh tears stream down her face, the single tears collecting at her chin before dropping onto his hand that held her cheek softly, tilting her face towards him. He smiled softly before encasing her lips into a small, pure chaste kiss. The simple kiss seemed so small but the passion, the angst, the complete longing to feel him below her was evident as they searched each others very soul through the small connection. The electricity flew in sparks around them and they felt like nothing could pull them apart.

Pulling away, Inu-yasha smiled softly to Kagome and tucked some hair behind her head, "I've waited so long to touch you again."

"Inu-yasha," she said breathless, her cheeks flushed a vibrant shade of pink as she locked eyes again. His eyes were so warm, so tender, and so alive. They seemed almost carefree, nothing like what she'd seen five hundred years ago, nothing she'd seen in the younger hanyou. She stood before an older man who loved her deeply and wanted nothing more than to reside in her faith and love for all of eternity. "I love you too."

He closed his eyes and shimmered in joy, his whole demeanor of an anguished puppy dispatched like the snow on a sunny day, and was instead replaced with a fulfilled man who had come forth and proclaimed his destiny.

His lips claimed hers again in a much more passionate kiss, his fierce assault ending in nothing but sweet and utter bliss.

It was a few minutes of tender kissing and simple caresses of the skin before Kagome pulled away and snuggled to his chest, his strong arms wrapping around her again.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" she whispered softly to his chest, her voice carrying to his twitching ears.

Smiling, he picked Kagome up and cradled her to his chest, planting small butterfly kisses to her face and neck, "I'd like that."

And the two star-crossed lovers reunited through a twist of fate and patience entered the house that he would soon become his home. Their love intertwined for all eternity.