Disclaimer: I don't own anything!!!

AN: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews, really! I really had to laugh out loud at some of them! It even brought me out of my art stupor, I think. :P Thanks again everybody! You've been a lot of help through out the whole story! And, lastly, this is not the last chapter… It might take a while to wrap up since I hate my endings, which always seem to cliché… ^-^ Well, enjoy!

Icari
Chapter 32

 Inuyasha woke with a groan and a throbbing head. He sat up slowly in the middle of the woods and a foul stench a bit to his left.

 "Inuyasha?" The said hanyou looked up at the girl running towards him and tired to say something, but it ended up like a gurgle. Kagome giggled as she fell to her knees and checked his forehead. "So, Inuyasha… do you remember anything that happened yesterday?" He groaned.

 "Blurry…" He mumbled, exhausted out of his mind. Hands coaxed him back to the ground, soft hands, and he relaxed into him, his headache slowly began to feel better. "Big." He heard her soft giggling again.

 "Inuyasha… you're exhausted, stay down." A feather soft kiss was placed on his forehead and he drifted off.

 Kagome smiled at the hanyou, still asleep in the afternoon sun. She looked over to Icari and Sesshomaru, who were just about done and ready to go. "Uh, guys?" They looked over at her.

 "Do you mind bringing Inuyasha into the shade? We'll rest for a while before getting the shards ad heading off." She called over to them.

 "And don't forget the talismans." Yasuo said from his spot on the ground. He was still sitting, since he had taken most of the damage. Kagome and the rest of the humans had barely even been scratched, and they had taken care of the youkai right after Naraku's world had dissolved, with only a sliver of the sun visible. It had been hours now, and the full youkai had only just woken up.

 "Yeah, I know…" She looked over at the large puddle of oozing purple… that even bubbled in some places, and wondered how they were going to get anything from it. Never mind the shards and talismans.

 Yasuo stumbled up to her, a hand on her shoulder for balance, and stared into the vast puddle. He frowned as he watched it ripple and then dissolve a stray leaf that landed on it.

 "Youkai are stronger than leaves, that's for sure, but I'm not sure it's completely safe to go in there." Miroku, who was standing besides them, decided to test out the acid and placed a stone near the edge. The water sizzled like hot oil with water, but there was barely any damage done. Kagome sighed.

 "At leaves the shards aren't in the dead center; they're a bit to the left, and the talismans are only a bit farther in. Yasuo, do you think you can get enough water to clean this up?" He nodded.

 "But only after I've had a chance to regenerate. Actually, I could move the lake itself later on." Kagome nodded and walked over to Inuyasha in the shade, but not before hearing a loud smacking sound.

 "Oh, how I've missed that…" She chuckled. Things were going back to normal.


 Rin watched the whole scenario play out from up in a low branch of a tree, chuckling at Miroku's attempt to grab a feel. Kirara had gone off to fetch Shippo, so she was currently bored. Her eyes wandered to Yasuo, who was leaning casually into a tree not far away. A smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth.

 "What are you smiling so smugly about?" Sesshomaru's cool voice tickled her ear, and her arms wrapped them around his neck unconsciously. His strong, lean arms circled around her waist, and she simply leaned back. "Well?" Rin laughed softly.

 "Just thinking of my little scheme…" they both flinched as they thought back to the last time they had held each other casually, and their eyes found the other's. A flicker of uncertainty crossed Rin's but it was gone in an instant. Some things, you just had to pick up from the people around you.

 "Rin, I…"

 "Sesshomaru… I'm sorry." Sesshomaru bit his lip and looked at her, confused at why she was apologizing. Though, a quick look in her eyes told him that she knew…

 "Rin, you don't have to apologize, I spoke without thinking."

 "And you were just voicing your concerns. Sesshomaru, I should be apologizing, I was being inconsiderate." He hand went down to play with some of the hair the covered her from the world's eyes, and she snuck a sniff of their earthy fragrance.

 "And I wasn't thinking. I should've thought about it more instead of acting on impulse. I'm apologizing; I'm sorry." She turned to look at him, surprised as he was to hear those words coming out of his mouth. With a smile, he kissed his cheek lightly.

 "We were both acting childish… Let's settle for that." He smiled against her cheek and she moved her face over a bit to aim for the lips…


 Icari looked around, seeing everyone with their respective others, and she smiled. This was exactly what they deserved; true happiness. Especially for all they had been through, and for all they had given back to the world. They deserved every second of happiness in her eyes.

 'Don't you?'

Whispered the tiny, rebel voice in her head. She cringed inwardly, knowing what that bit of her conscience was telling her as her golden eyes roamed over to the water youkai, sitting not too far away. She had felt his eyes on her for a long time now, and when she had looked, she expected him to turn away. But he didn't.

 There was an ache in her heart as memories of Hiro floated through her head, but they were blurry. She knew she loved him, and she knew that the heart was allowed to heal and love again, but she didn't know how this one would turn out. Hiro had died protecting her, and that was not something easily forgotten. Her first love had given his life for her, and she did not want to lose Yasuo too.

 And then it hit her.

 The whole time she had been avoiding his attempts to get closer, the whole time she had been ignoring his feelings for her… she had been trying to keep him. She had never wanted him to go, not like Hiro, not ever. Yasuo was her oldest friend, and she wanted him to be by her side forever. So she had been blind, but her heart knew exactly what she needed. Him. Someone to mend her and bring her back. It wasn't only her family.

 "Yasuo!" His eyes intensified their gaze, and her heart bounced in her chest, as if saying 'You finally get it! No go to him!' and she took hesitant steps towards the demon.

 "Yasuo… I…" words stood at the tip of her tongue, refusing to be released as he looked at her. His dark eyes held hers the whole way, and Icari suddenly felt small and stupid in front of this man she had been avoiding. Or was her conscience playing mind tricks on her? Nevertheless, she slid to her knees in front of him.

 "Icari, what are you doing?"

 She smiled. She remembered his voice like this, uttering those same small words, from so long ago. It had always been like this, and now it was time to take another step.

  "Yasuo, I've been… oh gods what do I say… I've been childish." Yasuo looked somewhat surprised by this, but not completely. It seemed that part of him knew that this was going to happen. "I guess I always wanted you as… more than friends, well, my heart at least, but my mind wasn't making sense of it, so I ran…" She trailed off again, never been really good at this stuff. Yasuo smiled his youthful, boyish smile that he had always saved for her and held her face in a hand.

 "I love you too." She laughed; he had always known what she had always meant to say, despite her terrible vocabulary and social skills. And, for the first time in a long time, felt whole. She had a man she loved willing to take her in his arms, her family surrounding her, and the end of the worst chapter of her life (possibly) closing.

Kagome's head whipped up at the sound of Icari's rather throaty laugh, and saw her being pulled into Yasuo's arms. A look over to the side told her Sango and Miroku were getting along as always, though she saw something deeper in their faces and they fought. Inuyasha stirred in his sleep.

 "Inuyasha?" He didn't move. Worried, she bent down lower to check up on him…

 His golden eyes flew open and his lips curled into a smile as his right arm shoved her on top of him. The other arm held her at the waist close to him as she sputtered indignantly and, finally, began to hit his arm and call him names. Even so, she was still smiling overall.

 "Stupid wench, don't ever scare me like that again!" His lips brushed her ear as he whispered, making Kagome giggle.

 "Aw, but it's so fun!" she teased him, and saw his eyes glint evilly.

 "Let's see how fun it is when you're being attacked by… ME!" They flipped over, his mouth nuzzling the crook of her neck while his hands moved down to her ticklish spots. She never even managed to say a word before she was laughing out loud.

*~*~*~*~*

 "Can't this stupid cat go any faster?" Jaken exclaimed as he rode on Kirara with Shippo. Annoyed, the kitsune poked at Kirara, and they both silently agreed on their plan. 

 She sped up while Shippo clung to her fur, making Jaken stumble as they rode. Eyes watering, Shippo smelled the familiar scents of his pack and he knew Kirara did too when she tensed her muscles beneath him. At the edge of the small clearing caused by a large, acidic pool, Kirara dug all fours into the hard ground, causing the just stable toad thing to fly into the woods. Shippo smirked at the screaming told as he jumped off Kirara. Sango and Miroku were the first two he met.

 Kirara jumped into her master's arms while Sango studied the skies.

 "Shippo, did you see something flying overheard?" He shook his head.

 "Nope, nothing. Now… where's Kagome?"

*~*~*~*~*

Fly Jaken, fly like a bird! Heh, I couldn't resist tormenting the little thing, especially since I just realized I forgot all about him. All the better. Anyways, thanks again for all the reviews people1 The secret of the talismans and swords will be revealed soon!