** This story deals with rape, so if this sort of topic bothers you then be
forewarned. **
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Author's Notes: Yay, I'm finally updating this story! I can't believe how long it's getting. My other stories aren't nearly this long. Oh well, it just goes to show ya how into it I am. lol
Anyway, this chapter is sort of another filler, but I've had several readers ask about what happened to Kikyou, so you can sort of get an idea. I promise the excitement will come soon, like in the next chapter (can anyone say bachelor party?). I'm so excited to write the chapters, and I hope you all enjoy. Thanks for the reviews!
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Title: The Realistic Happily Ever After
Author: dolphingirl0113
Chapter: Nineteen
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
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The morning was crisp and beautiful, with a slight breeze that ruffled Kagome's black hair around her shoulders. She sighed and leaned back against the trunk of the tree, looking out at the incredible view.
"I had no idea Goshinboku was this tall," she said to the birds in a nearby branch, smiling as she looked down at the ground far below. Earlier that morning she had climbed up to the tallest branch that could hold her weight, and for nearly an hour had sat and watched the sun rise over Tokyo.
Why she was so restless, she would never know, though it could have something to do with the fact that the planned bachelor/bachelorette party was that evening, and her mother had invited tons of friends Kagome barely knew. It would take a lot of explaining about Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Ayame, and Kouga, she realized with a sigh. Maybe that's why she hadn't slept well.
Or maybe it was because Inuyasha had gone back to the feudal era for a time because he needed to, as he put it, be himself for a while. She understood, and a part of her felt guilty for the fact that he had been hiding away under that baseball cap in her time for so long already. But at the same time, she had missed his comforting presence for the past two days, including his strong, comforting arms while she slept. It was the most chaste of actions, and yet it stirred within her heart a longing unlike anything she had ever known, and in its absence her dreams had been lonely and her mind wandering back to wherever he was.
The sounds of children brought Kagome back to reality, realizing that the rest of the household was finally waking up and, no doubt, wondering where she was. Shippou loved coming into her room and pouncing on her stomach to wake her up in the morning, and when he found his victim missing he would tell her mother.
"Kagome?" She looked down into the eyes of her mother, and Kagome couldn't help but smile. This woman had stood by her side faithfully through everything, a thought that brought warmth to her heart.
"Good morning mama," she said kindly, returning her gaze to the city.
"Are you alright? I was worried when you weren't in your bed."
"I'm fine," Kagome replied simply, sighing. Mrs. Higurashi crossed her arms and gave her daughter a penetrating stare.
"You're not sleeping well are you?"
How in the world did she know that? "Of course I am, why would you think otherwise?"
"I'm not a fool Kagome, I know that you miss Inuyasha. But as a woman, who must live between two worlds, you're going to have to learn how to be on your own sometimes. He cannot always stay here when you need to, and likewise you cannot always follow him into the past. This relationship will be complicated, you know that."
"Why are you telling me this?" Her mother's wise words were, for whatever reason, giving Kagome a headache that morning. Maybe it was because her eyes had barely stayed shut for more then three hours the night before.
"Because I care about you, as do all your friends," Mrs. Higurashi replied with warmth in her voice. Kagome smiled at that and looked back at her mother.
"I know, and thanks. I care about all of you too, more then you'll ever know."
Mother and daughter stared at one another in one of those moments when two women can seem to read each other's minds. Mrs. Higurashi finally broke the silence with a soft smile.
"Are you going to come down for breakfast?"
"Um," Kagome looked back at the view, and felt the breeze brush through her hair. She now understood why Inuyasha preferred sleeping in trees so much. "I think I'll stay up here a little longer if that's okay."
"Of course, just let me know when you're ready for breakfast so I can warm it up for you."
"Don't wait for me," Kagome called out with a grin. Mrs. Higurashi turned around with a playful look in her eyes.
"Please, it will probably be you waiting up for your friends. Can you believe the monk and his wife are still sleeping?"
Kagome laughed, knowing that, while they were both strong fighters, Sango and Miroku were by no means morning people. "Sure, I understand."
Her mother disappeared back into the house, and Kagome leaned back once more against the stiff bark of the tree. The silence put her into something akin to a trance, and she let her mind wander to whatever path it wished.
"Inuyasha," she whispered, "I hope you're safe." Then she fell asleep, her exhausted body finally giving in to the darkness.
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Kaede had told him where to go, and now Inuyasha found himself running through the forest, as he always used to do. But now it felt strange, not having Kagome at his side.
There was once a time when he wanted nothing to do with others, especially humans. He hated the idea of company, and scorned the concept of trust. But then she had come along and changed everything for him.
"Kagome," he whispered with a smile, still watching the trees fly by as he ran. He missed her, he realized, more then he had thought he would. This was obviously what his mother meant when she mentioned once how true love takes a part of you and gives it to another in exchange for a part of them. The hanyou truly felt like he was missing his other half.
But he couldn't have asked Kagome to come with him for what he wanted to do. That would be unfair, to put the two women together again.
A small village came into view, smaller then Kaede's, simple and rustic. It was by a flowing river, and green trees and bushes were everywhere, seeming to stand guard over the charming little alcove of peace. It suits her, he thought to himself as he slowed to a walk.
The villagers noticed his entrance immediately, his silvery hair and dog- ears setting him apart from everyone else. But their looks of distrust no longer affected him, because he knew there was a young woman in another time who loved him just the way he was. That was enough.
"I am looking for the priestess Kikyou," he called out to anyone who might answer. They all looked at each other for several seconds, obviously unsure, before one of them stepped forward.
"I'll take you to her home," the young woman with brown hair said, and Inuyasha nodded in response, falling into step behind her.
It was certainly a small hut, no bigger then Kaede's, but it radiated warmth by the smoke coming from the fire within, and the newly chopped wood smelled fresh. From inside, he heard the sound of a woman's voice, and felt the old stirrings of tenderness knowing she was inside.
"My lady?" the young woman asked, stepping up to the grass-mat door.
"Yes?" The voice was deep and resonate, and so familiar.
"There is someone here to see you," the girl replied. There was the sound of shuffling feet and then the mat was pushed to the side and Inuyasha found himself staring at a Kikyou who looked very much alive.
Her cheeks no longer looked pale or her eyes dead. Instead her skin was once more blessed with the rosy color of life, and her eyes sparkled as they once did. She was happy, he realized, truly happy again.
"I was wondering when you would come," she said softly, their eyes meeting. Though he loved another now, Kikyou would always be his first, and Inuyasha felt an old stirring in his heart.
"Hello Kikyou," he said in reply. "Are you well?"
"Very," she replied, stepping aside to make room for him in the doorway. "Please come in."
He obliged, and stepped through the doorframe. Inside were a few mats and a set of sleeping firs. But the firs, he noticed, seemed a little too big for one person.
"Does it meet your approval?" She asked playfully, and he blushed to think he had been so obvious in his observations.
"Yes, it seems like a wonderful home." He felt suddenly shy around this woman, like they were strangers. She had been his first love, the first to care for him when no one would. Then she had been dead and cold, angry at the world and trying to take his life. Now he saw before him a Kikyou, who was warm and kind, but also aged and no longer so naïve or innocent of the doings of the world.
"We are like strangers, you and I," she said calmly, voicing his thoughts. He looked at her, and smiled in spite of himself. She always did know what was going through his head.
"I know who you are," he replied tenderly. Kikyou turned and looked at him, her dark eyes probing.
"Do you? I'm not so sure. I have been three different women in the time I have wandered this earth. I have experienced pain beyond reason, as well as heartache and despair." She looked at him gently. "But I have also known love, and the joy it can bring." He blushed, and she looked back at the fire. "Yes, I have changed. Now that I am truly alive once more, not even I know myself sometimes."
"What do you mean?" She smiled.
"I spent so much time preparing myself to return to the land of the dead, I didn't even consider the possibility that I could live once more. But when Kagome offered me the Shikon no Tama to use for a wish, I suddenly realized that is what I truly desired." She sighed. "Not to take you to hell, or to return there myself. But to live. I desperately wanted to live again."
"I am happy for you Kikyou," he said earnestly, feeling slightly comforted in her presence. She no longer felt like a love, but like a mother. She was very similar to his own mother, he realized, now that she had lived through so much. She was kind and generous, but yet carried the maturity that only pain could give.
"I am happy for myself," she replied with a slight chuckle, looking about the room. "This is all I ever wanted. To be normal."
"I know," he replied, but refused to voice the fact that it was her desire to be normal, with a human husband, that had first started the talk about the Shikon no Tama. That was one aspect of Kikyou that he would never quite forget. Unlike Kagome, she had, deep down, wanted to change him.
"So how is Kagome?" The sudden change in topic was startling, and Inuyasha gave her a look of shock.
"Kagome?"
"That's what I said, is it not?" Inuyasha blushed.
"I know, I'm just, well, surprised is all. You and she never seemed to get along that well."
A shadow passed over Kikyou's face. "There was a time, yes, when I hated Kagome. I hated the fact that she carried within her my reincarnated soul, constantly reminding me that I had died to give her life. But I long ago ceased hating her. Rather, I didn't really know what to do around her."
"You tried to kill her," Inuyasha said before he could stop himself. The image of that day at Naraku's castle, finding Kagome at the bottom of a deep pit with sorrow in her eyes, refusing to tell him who hurt her, only to have Kikyou appear with a smug look and the Shikon shards in her hands, was a memory that would stick in his mind forever.
Kikyou winced. "I know what I did, and I shall carry that shame with me for the rest of my life."
"You also tried to drag me into hell with her pinned to a tree, hidden from me. Why?" He wasn't angry, he just wanted to know what had driven this woman to act so cruelly, when he had known her to be capable of such kindness.
"I wanted Kagome to know the pain of having the one she loved ripped from her without warning," Kikyou replied simply. "But in truth I simply learned that you were in love with her as well, because you responded to her voice, and not my touch."
Strangely enough, as Kikyou spoke, there was no pain in her eyes. She seemed able to talk about it without restraint, and that made Inuyasha realize something he had not thought of before: she had found someone else.
"Who is he?" he asked suddenly, not out of jealously, but curiosity. A warm smile spread across her face, and Kikyou seemed to glow.
"Gideon," she replied. "He is a good man of twenty-five, hard working and honest. He is a healer as well, and we work together to help others." She blushed and glanced at the sleeping firs. "I think very soon I will become a married woman."
Inuyasha beamed. "I am truly happy for you. Now I can be at ease with Kagome, knowing you are happy."
"Is that why you came to see me? You were concerned for my feelings?"
"Yes," he replied honestly, and she smiled.
"Thank you, Inuyasha. And I want you to know that, despite what happened between us, you will always hold a special place with my soul."
"And you with mine," he replied honestly, for he knew that the part of him that hurt from Naraku would always be tied to Kikyou. His joy belonged to Kagome, but he and Kikyou shared a bond of pain, vengeance, and tragic love.
Realizing the sun was high in the sky by the way the beams of light streamed through the window overhead, Inuyasha finally rose to his feet. "I should go."
"Indeed," Kikyou replied, rising to walk him to the door.
"Farewell Kikyou," he said simply, turning to her with a smile and a nod before walking away down the path. She smiled in return.
"Be happy Inuyasha," she whispered, and then smiled in love toward another man approaching from the left, tall, with dark locks of hair covering parts of his face, staring at her with joyous deep brown eyes.
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"Kagome! What the hell are you doing?"
Kagome shook herself from her deep slumber, her body somewhat stiff from the position she was in against the tree. Rolling her head lazily to the side, she looked down and saw a very peeved Inuyasha on the ground. Her heart leapt in joy.
"Inuyasha! You're back!"
"Keh, and while I'm gone you try and kill yourself by sleeping in a tree! What if you were to fall? You're not like me, you know!"
His concern was meant well, she knew, but she still hated how he was treating her like a child. "Maybe I just wanted to relax and be on my own for a while, like you! Unfortunately, I have to climb a tree for that to happen!"
Inuyasha just sighed and, in one giant leap, was sitting across from her high up in the limbs of Goshinboku. She didn't even start, used to such behavior from him.
"So, how have you been?" he finally asked, surprising her. She looked at him, and broke into a smile.
"I've missed you," she replied honestly, and he, in response, pulled her into his arms.
"I've missed you too," he whispered into her hair. Gods above, how she had missed the way he held her like that.
"What did you do in your time? Stay with Kaede?" Kagome felt Inuyasha stiffen slightly, and pulled back to look him square in the face. "Tell me, Inuyasha, I won't be upset."
"I went to see Kikyou," he mumbled, afraid to look into Kagome's eyes and see her disappointment. But when silence finally forced him to look up, he saw that Kagome merely looked curious.
"And how is she?"
"She's, um, fine," he replied, mystified. First Kikyou had asked about Kagome, and now his mate was not upset about him visiting the one woman who had torn them apart for so long. Women, he decided, were fickle.
"No doubt enjoying the new love in her life?"
"How did you know?" Kagome smiled.
"I saw her at Sango and Miroku's wedding. She was covered by a cloak, but I know the other half of my soul. And she was holding the hand of a man who seemed quite attached to her."
Inuyasha smiled. "She is. I think she's in love, because she spoke of a possible marriage."
"That's wonderful," Kagome sighed and leaned back against the tree again, her eyes drooping. "I'm glad the wish was put to good use."
Inuyasha noticed how tired she seemed, with circles under her eyes. Had she not been sleeping well? "Kagome, are you alright?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm just really tired."
"Why? Have you not slept well?" She groaned and rubbed her eyes.
"No, it would seem you've got me stuck in a rut whenever you're gone. I can't sleep, I can't think straight, I'm just," she threw her hands in the air, "Lost without you."
He smiled in return to her playful attitude, and folded her in his arms once more. "As I am without you." He brushed her cheek with his hand. "I missed arguing with you for two days."
Kagome blanched slightly. "Is that all we do? Fight?"
"No, we do other things," he raised his eyebrows suggestively, and Kagome laughed, but in the process teetered on the branch. Inuyasha pulled her even more securely against his chest. "Don't fall, Kagome, I don't want my mate to be crippled."
"Indeed," Kagome grunted in response. But then she looked up, caught his gaze, and all was forgotten as he lowered his head for a kiss.
It was just as magical as ever, lifting Kagome out of her body and into a magical place that only he could take her to. She had missed him so much, and even though Naraku was gone, she feared for his safety when he wasn't near. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer to deepen the kiss.
"If you two don't mind, I'd rather you not do that in a sacred tree," an aged voice said from below. Breaking away with a start, Kagome blushed to see her grandfather.
"What is it, grandpa?"
"Your mother wants to see you, saying something about the fact that you haven't eaten yet today, and it's almost two in the afternoon."
"Really?" Obviously she had slept longer then she realized. "Tell her we'll be right in."
"Oh, and I'm also supposed to tell you that Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi will be here soon to get ready for your party."
"Okay," Kagome replied, trying not to sound too annoyed. Now that Inuyasha was around, her body felt like it could sleep for days. Why did she insist on having the dumb party anyway?
"So, tonight's that bachelor party thing?" Inuyasha was watching her grandfather leave as he spoke.
"Yeah, I hope you don't mind."
"So far wherever you take me I have fun," he replied, recalling that night at Miguel's. Kagome smiled and touched his cheek.
"Good, because I think you'll enjoy this too."
"I trust you."
He leapt down from the tree and carried her inside, where she ate the food her mother presented to her, rubbing her temples when her three talkative friends swarmed into the house. It was going to be a long night, she could tell already.
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Author's Notes: Yay, I'm finally updating this story! I can't believe how long it's getting. My other stories aren't nearly this long. Oh well, it just goes to show ya how into it I am. lol
Anyway, this chapter is sort of another filler, but I've had several readers ask about what happened to Kikyou, so you can sort of get an idea. I promise the excitement will come soon, like in the next chapter (can anyone say bachelor party?). I'm so excited to write the chapters, and I hope you all enjoy. Thanks for the reviews!
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Title: The Realistic Happily Ever After
Author: dolphingirl0113
Chapter: Nineteen
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
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The morning was crisp and beautiful, with a slight breeze that ruffled Kagome's black hair around her shoulders. She sighed and leaned back against the trunk of the tree, looking out at the incredible view.
"I had no idea Goshinboku was this tall," she said to the birds in a nearby branch, smiling as she looked down at the ground far below. Earlier that morning she had climbed up to the tallest branch that could hold her weight, and for nearly an hour had sat and watched the sun rise over Tokyo.
Why she was so restless, she would never know, though it could have something to do with the fact that the planned bachelor/bachelorette party was that evening, and her mother had invited tons of friends Kagome barely knew. It would take a lot of explaining about Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Ayame, and Kouga, she realized with a sigh. Maybe that's why she hadn't slept well.
Or maybe it was because Inuyasha had gone back to the feudal era for a time because he needed to, as he put it, be himself for a while. She understood, and a part of her felt guilty for the fact that he had been hiding away under that baseball cap in her time for so long already. But at the same time, she had missed his comforting presence for the past two days, including his strong, comforting arms while she slept. It was the most chaste of actions, and yet it stirred within her heart a longing unlike anything she had ever known, and in its absence her dreams had been lonely and her mind wandering back to wherever he was.
The sounds of children brought Kagome back to reality, realizing that the rest of the household was finally waking up and, no doubt, wondering where she was. Shippou loved coming into her room and pouncing on her stomach to wake her up in the morning, and when he found his victim missing he would tell her mother.
"Kagome?" She looked down into the eyes of her mother, and Kagome couldn't help but smile. This woman had stood by her side faithfully through everything, a thought that brought warmth to her heart.
"Good morning mama," she said kindly, returning her gaze to the city.
"Are you alright? I was worried when you weren't in your bed."
"I'm fine," Kagome replied simply, sighing. Mrs. Higurashi crossed her arms and gave her daughter a penetrating stare.
"You're not sleeping well are you?"
How in the world did she know that? "Of course I am, why would you think otherwise?"
"I'm not a fool Kagome, I know that you miss Inuyasha. But as a woman, who must live between two worlds, you're going to have to learn how to be on your own sometimes. He cannot always stay here when you need to, and likewise you cannot always follow him into the past. This relationship will be complicated, you know that."
"Why are you telling me this?" Her mother's wise words were, for whatever reason, giving Kagome a headache that morning. Maybe it was because her eyes had barely stayed shut for more then three hours the night before.
"Because I care about you, as do all your friends," Mrs. Higurashi replied with warmth in her voice. Kagome smiled at that and looked back at her mother.
"I know, and thanks. I care about all of you too, more then you'll ever know."
Mother and daughter stared at one another in one of those moments when two women can seem to read each other's minds. Mrs. Higurashi finally broke the silence with a soft smile.
"Are you going to come down for breakfast?"
"Um," Kagome looked back at the view, and felt the breeze brush through her hair. She now understood why Inuyasha preferred sleeping in trees so much. "I think I'll stay up here a little longer if that's okay."
"Of course, just let me know when you're ready for breakfast so I can warm it up for you."
"Don't wait for me," Kagome called out with a grin. Mrs. Higurashi turned around with a playful look in her eyes.
"Please, it will probably be you waiting up for your friends. Can you believe the monk and his wife are still sleeping?"
Kagome laughed, knowing that, while they were both strong fighters, Sango and Miroku were by no means morning people. "Sure, I understand."
Her mother disappeared back into the house, and Kagome leaned back once more against the stiff bark of the tree. The silence put her into something akin to a trance, and she let her mind wander to whatever path it wished.
"Inuyasha," she whispered, "I hope you're safe." Then she fell asleep, her exhausted body finally giving in to the darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaede had told him where to go, and now Inuyasha found himself running through the forest, as he always used to do. But now it felt strange, not having Kagome at his side.
There was once a time when he wanted nothing to do with others, especially humans. He hated the idea of company, and scorned the concept of trust. But then she had come along and changed everything for him.
"Kagome," he whispered with a smile, still watching the trees fly by as he ran. He missed her, he realized, more then he had thought he would. This was obviously what his mother meant when she mentioned once how true love takes a part of you and gives it to another in exchange for a part of them. The hanyou truly felt like he was missing his other half.
But he couldn't have asked Kagome to come with him for what he wanted to do. That would be unfair, to put the two women together again.
A small village came into view, smaller then Kaede's, simple and rustic. It was by a flowing river, and green trees and bushes were everywhere, seeming to stand guard over the charming little alcove of peace. It suits her, he thought to himself as he slowed to a walk.
The villagers noticed his entrance immediately, his silvery hair and dog- ears setting him apart from everyone else. But their looks of distrust no longer affected him, because he knew there was a young woman in another time who loved him just the way he was. That was enough.
"I am looking for the priestess Kikyou," he called out to anyone who might answer. They all looked at each other for several seconds, obviously unsure, before one of them stepped forward.
"I'll take you to her home," the young woman with brown hair said, and Inuyasha nodded in response, falling into step behind her.
It was certainly a small hut, no bigger then Kaede's, but it radiated warmth by the smoke coming from the fire within, and the newly chopped wood smelled fresh. From inside, he heard the sound of a woman's voice, and felt the old stirrings of tenderness knowing she was inside.
"My lady?" the young woman asked, stepping up to the grass-mat door.
"Yes?" The voice was deep and resonate, and so familiar.
"There is someone here to see you," the girl replied. There was the sound of shuffling feet and then the mat was pushed to the side and Inuyasha found himself staring at a Kikyou who looked very much alive.
Her cheeks no longer looked pale or her eyes dead. Instead her skin was once more blessed with the rosy color of life, and her eyes sparkled as they once did. She was happy, he realized, truly happy again.
"I was wondering when you would come," she said softly, their eyes meeting. Though he loved another now, Kikyou would always be his first, and Inuyasha felt an old stirring in his heart.
"Hello Kikyou," he said in reply. "Are you well?"
"Very," she replied, stepping aside to make room for him in the doorway. "Please come in."
He obliged, and stepped through the doorframe. Inside were a few mats and a set of sleeping firs. But the firs, he noticed, seemed a little too big for one person.
"Does it meet your approval?" She asked playfully, and he blushed to think he had been so obvious in his observations.
"Yes, it seems like a wonderful home." He felt suddenly shy around this woman, like they were strangers. She had been his first love, the first to care for him when no one would. Then she had been dead and cold, angry at the world and trying to take his life. Now he saw before him a Kikyou, who was warm and kind, but also aged and no longer so naïve or innocent of the doings of the world.
"We are like strangers, you and I," she said calmly, voicing his thoughts. He looked at her, and smiled in spite of himself. She always did know what was going through his head.
"I know who you are," he replied tenderly. Kikyou turned and looked at him, her dark eyes probing.
"Do you? I'm not so sure. I have been three different women in the time I have wandered this earth. I have experienced pain beyond reason, as well as heartache and despair." She looked at him gently. "But I have also known love, and the joy it can bring." He blushed, and she looked back at the fire. "Yes, I have changed. Now that I am truly alive once more, not even I know myself sometimes."
"What do you mean?" She smiled.
"I spent so much time preparing myself to return to the land of the dead, I didn't even consider the possibility that I could live once more. But when Kagome offered me the Shikon no Tama to use for a wish, I suddenly realized that is what I truly desired." She sighed. "Not to take you to hell, or to return there myself. But to live. I desperately wanted to live again."
"I am happy for you Kikyou," he said earnestly, feeling slightly comforted in her presence. She no longer felt like a love, but like a mother. She was very similar to his own mother, he realized, now that she had lived through so much. She was kind and generous, but yet carried the maturity that only pain could give.
"I am happy for myself," she replied with a slight chuckle, looking about the room. "This is all I ever wanted. To be normal."
"I know," he replied, but refused to voice the fact that it was her desire to be normal, with a human husband, that had first started the talk about the Shikon no Tama. That was one aspect of Kikyou that he would never quite forget. Unlike Kagome, she had, deep down, wanted to change him.
"So how is Kagome?" The sudden change in topic was startling, and Inuyasha gave her a look of shock.
"Kagome?"
"That's what I said, is it not?" Inuyasha blushed.
"I know, I'm just, well, surprised is all. You and she never seemed to get along that well."
A shadow passed over Kikyou's face. "There was a time, yes, when I hated Kagome. I hated the fact that she carried within her my reincarnated soul, constantly reminding me that I had died to give her life. But I long ago ceased hating her. Rather, I didn't really know what to do around her."
"You tried to kill her," Inuyasha said before he could stop himself. The image of that day at Naraku's castle, finding Kagome at the bottom of a deep pit with sorrow in her eyes, refusing to tell him who hurt her, only to have Kikyou appear with a smug look and the Shikon shards in her hands, was a memory that would stick in his mind forever.
Kikyou winced. "I know what I did, and I shall carry that shame with me for the rest of my life."
"You also tried to drag me into hell with her pinned to a tree, hidden from me. Why?" He wasn't angry, he just wanted to know what had driven this woman to act so cruelly, when he had known her to be capable of such kindness.
"I wanted Kagome to know the pain of having the one she loved ripped from her without warning," Kikyou replied simply. "But in truth I simply learned that you were in love with her as well, because you responded to her voice, and not my touch."
Strangely enough, as Kikyou spoke, there was no pain in her eyes. She seemed able to talk about it without restraint, and that made Inuyasha realize something he had not thought of before: she had found someone else.
"Who is he?" he asked suddenly, not out of jealously, but curiosity. A warm smile spread across her face, and Kikyou seemed to glow.
"Gideon," she replied. "He is a good man of twenty-five, hard working and honest. He is a healer as well, and we work together to help others." She blushed and glanced at the sleeping firs. "I think very soon I will become a married woman."
Inuyasha beamed. "I am truly happy for you. Now I can be at ease with Kagome, knowing you are happy."
"Is that why you came to see me? You were concerned for my feelings?"
"Yes," he replied honestly, and she smiled.
"Thank you, Inuyasha. And I want you to know that, despite what happened between us, you will always hold a special place with my soul."
"And you with mine," he replied honestly, for he knew that the part of him that hurt from Naraku would always be tied to Kikyou. His joy belonged to Kagome, but he and Kikyou shared a bond of pain, vengeance, and tragic love.
Realizing the sun was high in the sky by the way the beams of light streamed through the window overhead, Inuyasha finally rose to his feet. "I should go."
"Indeed," Kikyou replied, rising to walk him to the door.
"Farewell Kikyou," he said simply, turning to her with a smile and a nod before walking away down the path. She smiled in return.
"Be happy Inuyasha," she whispered, and then smiled in love toward another man approaching from the left, tall, with dark locks of hair covering parts of his face, staring at her with joyous deep brown eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Kagome! What the hell are you doing?"
Kagome shook herself from her deep slumber, her body somewhat stiff from the position she was in against the tree. Rolling her head lazily to the side, she looked down and saw a very peeved Inuyasha on the ground. Her heart leapt in joy.
"Inuyasha! You're back!"
"Keh, and while I'm gone you try and kill yourself by sleeping in a tree! What if you were to fall? You're not like me, you know!"
His concern was meant well, she knew, but she still hated how he was treating her like a child. "Maybe I just wanted to relax and be on my own for a while, like you! Unfortunately, I have to climb a tree for that to happen!"
Inuyasha just sighed and, in one giant leap, was sitting across from her high up in the limbs of Goshinboku. She didn't even start, used to such behavior from him.
"So, how have you been?" he finally asked, surprising her. She looked at him, and broke into a smile.
"I've missed you," she replied honestly, and he, in response, pulled her into his arms.
"I've missed you too," he whispered into her hair. Gods above, how she had missed the way he held her like that.
"What did you do in your time? Stay with Kaede?" Kagome felt Inuyasha stiffen slightly, and pulled back to look him square in the face. "Tell me, Inuyasha, I won't be upset."
"I went to see Kikyou," he mumbled, afraid to look into Kagome's eyes and see her disappointment. But when silence finally forced him to look up, he saw that Kagome merely looked curious.
"And how is she?"
"She's, um, fine," he replied, mystified. First Kikyou had asked about Kagome, and now his mate was not upset about him visiting the one woman who had torn them apart for so long. Women, he decided, were fickle.
"No doubt enjoying the new love in her life?"
"How did you know?" Kagome smiled.
"I saw her at Sango and Miroku's wedding. She was covered by a cloak, but I know the other half of my soul. And she was holding the hand of a man who seemed quite attached to her."
Inuyasha smiled. "She is. I think she's in love, because she spoke of a possible marriage."
"That's wonderful," Kagome sighed and leaned back against the tree again, her eyes drooping. "I'm glad the wish was put to good use."
Inuyasha noticed how tired she seemed, with circles under her eyes. Had she not been sleeping well? "Kagome, are you alright?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm just really tired."
"Why? Have you not slept well?" She groaned and rubbed her eyes.
"No, it would seem you've got me stuck in a rut whenever you're gone. I can't sleep, I can't think straight, I'm just," she threw her hands in the air, "Lost without you."
He smiled in return to her playful attitude, and folded her in his arms once more. "As I am without you." He brushed her cheek with his hand. "I missed arguing with you for two days."
Kagome blanched slightly. "Is that all we do? Fight?"
"No, we do other things," he raised his eyebrows suggestively, and Kagome laughed, but in the process teetered on the branch. Inuyasha pulled her even more securely against his chest. "Don't fall, Kagome, I don't want my mate to be crippled."
"Indeed," Kagome grunted in response. But then she looked up, caught his gaze, and all was forgotten as he lowered his head for a kiss.
It was just as magical as ever, lifting Kagome out of her body and into a magical place that only he could take her to. She had missed him so much, and even though Naraku was gone, she feared for his safety when he wasn't near. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer to deepen the kiss.
"If you two don't mind, I'd rather you not do that in a sacred tree," an aged voice said from below. Breaking away with a start, Kagome blushed to see her grandfather.
"What is it, grandpa?"
"Your mother wants to see you, saying something about the fact that you haven't eaten yet today, and it's almost two in the afternoon."
"Really?" Obviously she had slept longer then she realized. "Tell her we'll be right in."
"Oh, and I'm also supposed to tell you that Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi will be here soon to get ready for your party."
"Okay," Kagome replied, trying not to sound too annoyed. Now that Inuyasha was around, her body felt like it could sleep for days. Why did she insist on having the dumb party anyway?
"So, tonight's that bachelor party thing?" Inuyasha was watching her grandfather leave as he spoke.
"Yeah, I hope you don't mind."
"So far wherever you take me I have fun," he replied, recalling that night at Miguel's. Kagome smiled and touched his cheek.
"Good, because I think you'll enjoy this too."
"I trust you."
He leapt down from the tree and carried her inside, where she ate the food her mother presented to her, rubbing her temples when her three talkative friends swarmed into the house. It was going to be a long night, she could tell already.
