Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha in any way, shape, or form. I give all credit to the great Rumiko Takahashi.
Authors Notes: Well, this story is going faster then I had originally planned. But that's okay. I still have yet to get a single suggestion from any of my readers, so I'm just going with the flow and making things up as I go along. Fun, ne?
Chapter Two: Reunion
Kagome sat alone, her feet dangling in the cool water of the stream. It was the next day, the sky a bright blue, just the oppisite of when she had left her time. A slight breeze breathed through the air, just slightly chilling her.
The only person Kagome had seen since the episode yesturday had been Kaede. They had small talk, and Kagome was fed, but nothing was mentioned about Inuyasha, the jewel, or why Kagome had come back. Kagome was greatful. She didn't feel up to talking about Inuyasha.
Now, though, her curisoity was getting the better if her. She wanted to find out who had hidden the jewel and the purpose of her being here. It couldn't be that they just missed her. Something had to be up.
"Kagome?" came a soft female voice.
Kagome tilted her head back to see Sango walking up with two towels in hand.
The demon exterminator smiled. "How you feeling?"
Kagome turned her head back and starred across the river. "Better, I suppose."
Sango nodded as she sat beside her. She kicked her sandles off and joined her own feet in the cool water. "So have have you been, I mean, all this time?"
Kagome smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Sango, that I didn't get to say goodbye." Kagome looked at her.
Sango smiled. "It's alright. I probably would have done the same thing." She paused in mid thought. "Ok. Wait. I already have."
Kagome looked at her puzzeled.
Sango laughed. "Hoshi-sama."
Kagome's eyes widened. "You and him...?"
Sango nodded with a blush. "It happened a few months after you left. He was flirting with a villiage girl, and well, I guess I got kind of jealous. Next thing I knew I was running away crying with him chasing after me."
Kagome smiled. "That's great. I'm so happy for you, Sango. I wish I could have been around for the wedding."
Sango laughed. "What wedding?"
Kagome starred at her dumbfounded. "You two... didn't get married?"
Sango shook her head. "Nope. I told Hoshi that I wasn't going to get married without my bestfriend by my side."
"And who..." Kagome paused in her train of thought. "Me?"
Sango nodded. "I don't know how you did it, but your here now, so when things start to settle down..."
"You mean, you don't know how I got here?"
It was Sango's turn to look puzzeled. "Well, I'm gussing it was the Shikon you had, but since the last person to own it was Inuyasha..."
"I found it."
"Huh?"
Kagome pulled her feet from the stream and dried them off with the towel Sango provided. "Back in my time. I found the Shikon hidding in an old cave." She paused and looked around to get her barring. She pointed off to the west. "About a day's walk or so from here."
"I wonder how it got there." Sango also dried off.
Both girls stood ready to head back to the village.
"What..." Kagome paused, not sure how to phrase her next sentence. "I mean, what DID Inuaysha do with the Shikon, after I left?"
Sango looked at her with all seriousness written on her face. "He made a wish."
Kagome stoped on the trail. "What?"
"He made a wish." Sango stopped to look back at her.
"Then if the jewel was purified... how?"
"I don't know." Sango looked toward the village and back at her. "He never told any of us what the wish was."
Kagome nodded and started walking again, Sango along side her.
"Sango?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Will you tell me the truth, no matter what?"
Sango stopped, both were just outside the village.
She sighed. "What do you want to know?"
"Are Inuyasha and Kikyo...."
Sango looked questioningly at Kagome. "Kagome, Kikyo's been dead, for the last time, 2 and 1/2 years now. After you left... so did Kikyo."
"You mean, she was finally laid to rest?"
"I'm not sure. All Inuyasha ever said was that she was where she belonged. We all just assumed she was... well... dead."
Kagome nodded. They started into the village. A few people who reconized Kagome bowed to the priestess as they walked toward Kaede's hut.
"Well..." Kagome said, turning to Sango with a smile. "Better get that wedding on the way." Kagome giggled and poked Sango in her gut.
Sango's eyes grew wide. "You know?"
Kagome nodded. "Of course."
"Know what?" Shippou came bounding out from behind the hut, a red ball in his hands. A few village children ran past, waving their goodbyes to the little demon. Shippou waved back.
"Nothing," Kagome smiled.
Sango sighed. "I must go find Hoshi and talk to him about it then." She hugged Kagome suddenly. "I'm glad your back," she said into her ear.
Kagome nodded in the hug. "Me, too, Sango. Me, too."
_-_-_-_ _-_-_-_ _-_-_-_ _-_-_-_ _-_-_-_
"Kagome-sama."
Kagome stood from where she knelt with the village children to address the monk that had called her.
"Miroku. Congradulations." Kagome beamed at him, her hands behind her back.
A slight blush reached his cheeks. "Um..." he coughed. "Thanks." Then to lighten the mood, he stuck his arms out as if to hug her. "How about a hug on your return?"
Kagome eye'd him, one eyebrow raised. "And be groped by you?"
Mirkou laughed uneasily. "Of course not."
Kagome just shook her head, a smile on her face. "It really is good to be back."
Miroku came to stand beside her, and the two started walking side by side through the village, no destination in mind.
Silence hung in the air as they walked. Kagome looked down at Miroku's uncovered hand.
"So how does it feel knowing you won't be sucked up anymore?"
Miroku gave her a weird look then laughed. "Great, really. Knowing your not going to die any time soon due to a black hold in your hand really brightens your day."
Kagome giggled. "I'm happy for you. And Sango."
"And I wish we could be happy for you," he said softly.
Kagome gave him a puzzeled look.
"I know it must be hard for you to return here."
Kagome just nodded. Miroku had always been there for her, to help her and give her advice; even before and after Sango had joined the team. He was a good friend.
"You've been avoiding him, havn't you?"
Kagome nodded again.
The two came to the edge of the village. Just down the small hill in front of them was the rice crops. A few woman could be seen picking, and there were a few children off to the side flying a kite.
Miroku turned around to face the village still speaking as Kagome watched the villagers below.
"You'll have to confront him at some point, Kagome."
"I know," Kagome said softly.
"Inuyasha never did tell us what happened between you two."
Kagome shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. "He opened his big mouth again." She paused. "And he never came to bring me back."
Miroku nodded in understanding, even though he knew Kagome wasn't watching him.
"I'm be afraid, too."
"What?" Kagome turned to look at him.
He looked down at her. "To come back to the place where I knew the one I love betrayed me. I'd be afriad."
"But I never said...." But she was interupted.
"You didn't have to say anything. I know it, Sango knows it. And in some small part in the back of his mind, I think Inuaysha knows it, too." Miroku put a hand on her shoulder.
"You can't run forever."
Kagome nodded. "Miroku?"
"Hmm?"
"What... what happened between Inuyasha and Kikyo... after I left?"
Miroku sighed. "He went and saw her..." Miroku looked at the depressed features on her face, "... one last time."
Kagome looked at him not knowing what to think, or what to say for that matter.
"It all happened the same day you left. He came back to the village and said Kikyo was gone for good. He never did elaberate." A pause. "And he had the jewel. That's how we knew you wouldn't be coming back."
Kagome nodded. "I... I threw the jewel at him. It rightfully belonged to him anyway. And I went home." Kagome wiped a few tears away that had started to leak. "I figured he could have the jewel, he could have Kikyo, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped that maybe.... just maybe.... he'd forget about all that and come get me. But... but he never did." Kagome choaked in a snob. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
"Don't be sorry," Miroku said, pulling the small girl into his arms. And there Kagome cried. She cried like the day she had left the Sengoku Jidai. When she had left everything and everyone she loved behind.
"Oh, Miroku!" Kagome cried, falling to her knees, bringing the monk with her. "I was so stupid. I told him I loved him. Why did I love him?" Kagome caught a few snobs before continuing. "If he never cared about me, then why did he always save me from danger? Why did he ever let me get close? Why did he get so jealous with Kouga around? I don't understand him. Did he love me or Kikyo?"
"Kagome..." Miroku sighed. "I'm not taking sides." He helped her up, her crying slowly ababting. "But try to look at it on his point of view. A hanyou who nobody has ever loved. Then Kikyo, and her betrayal. And then you, who looks so much like Kikyo, yet, is nothing like her." He paused.
She sniffled.
"Think about how he must have been confused. Since the very begginning." Another pause. "I think Inuyasha is just afriad. He'd been betrayed before. What's to say it wouldn't happen again?"
"But I wouldn't..!"
"But does he know that?" A sigh. "Kagome. I think the only way to get things straight between you two would be for you to approach him about it. He knows how you feel. Go find out how he feels."
"But... but I'm afraid."
"Of what?"
"That... that he'll hate me, tell me he doesn't feel the same...."
"But then you'd never know unless you actually said something to him."Miroku looked off into the distance, toward the BoneEaters Well. "And if all fails, you always have your home to go back to."
Kagome nodded. She wiped her last tear away. "Thank you, Miroku."
He smiled down at her. "Anytime. And hey, don't worry too much. Everything will be alright."
"How can you be sure?"
He shrugged. "Just a feeling I have."
Kagome nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. She looked up into the blue sky. It was a little after noon. She had plently of time to find Inuyasha. And she knew where he would be. It was time for for to approach him.
Authors Notes: Well, this story is going faster then I had originally planned. But that's okay. I still have yet to get a single suggestion from any of my readers, so I'm just going with the flow and making things up as I go along. Fun, ne?
Chapter Two: Reunion
Kagome sat alone, her feet dangling in the cool water of the stream. It was the next day, the sky a bright blue, just the oppisite of when she had left her time. A slight breeze breathed through the air, just slightly chilling her.
The only person Kagome had seen since the episode yesturday had been Kaede. They had small talk, and Kagome was fed, but nothing was mentioned about Inuyasha, the jewel, or why Kagome had come back. Kagome was greatful. She didn't feel up to talking about Inuyasha.
Now, though, her curisoity was getting the better if her. She wanted to find out who had hidden the jewel and the purpose of her being here. It couldn't be that they just missed her. Something had to be up.
"Kagome?" came a soft female voice.
Kagome tilted her head back to see Sango walking up with two towels in hand.
The demon exterminator smiled. "How you feeling?"
Kagome turned her head back and starred across the river. "Better, I suppose."
Sango nodded as she sat beside her. She kicked her sandles off and joined her own feet in the cool water. "So have have you been, I mean, all this time?"
Kagome smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Sango, that I didn't get to say goodbye." Kagome looked at her.
Sango smiled. "It's alright. I probably would have done the same thing." She paused in mid thought. "Ok. Wait. I already have."
Kagome looked at her puzzeled.
Sango laughed. "Hoshi-sama."
Kagome's eyes widened. "You and him...?"
Sango nodded with a blush. "It happened a few months after you left. He was flirting with a villiage girl, and well, I guess I got kind of jealous. Next thing I knew I was running away crying with him chasing after me."
Kagome smiled. "That's great. I'm so happy for you, Sango. I wish I could have been around for the wedding."
Sango laughed. "What wedding?"
Kagome starred at her dumbfounded. "You two... didn't get married?"
Sango shook her head. "Nope. I told Hoshi that I wasn't going to get married without my bestfriend by my side."
"And who..." Kagome paused in her train of thought. "Me?"
Sango nodded. "I don't know how you did it, but your here now, so when things start to settle down..."
"You mean, you don't know how I got here?"
It was Sango's turn to look puzzeled. "Well, I'm gussing it was the Shikon you had, but since the last person to own it was Inuyasha..."
"I found it."
"Huh?"
Kagome pulled her feet from the stream and dried them off with the towel Sango provided. "Back in my time. I found the Shikon hidding in an old cave." She paused and looked around to get her barring. She pointed off to the west. "About a day's walk or so from here."
"I wonder how it got there." Sango also dried off.
Both girls stood ready to head back to the village.
"What..." Kagome paused, not sure how to phrase her next sentence. "I mean, what DID Inuaysha do with the Shikon, after I left?"
Sango looked at her with all seriousness written on her face. "He made a wish."
Kagome stoped on the trail. "What?"
"He made a wish." Sango stopped to look back at her.
"Then if the jewel was purified... how?"
"I don't know." Sango looked toward the village and back at her. "He never told any of us what the wish was."
Kagome nodded and started walking again, Sango along side her.
"Sango?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Will you tell me the truth, no matter what?"
Sango stopped, both were just outside the village.
She sighed. "What do you want to know?"
"Are Inuyasha and Kikyo...."
Sango looked questioningly at Kagome. "Kagome, Kikyo's been dead, for the last time, 2 and 1/2 years now. After you left... so did Kikyo."
"You mean, she was finally laid to rest?"
"I'm not sure. All Inuyasha ever said was that she was where she belonged. We all just assumed she was... well... dead."
Kagome nodded. They started into the village. A few people who reconized Kagome bowed to the priestess as they walked toward Kaede's hut.
"Well..." Kagome said, turning to Sango with a smile. "Better get that wedding on the way." Kagome giggled and poked Sango in her gut.
Sango's eyes grew wide. "You know?"
Kagome nodded. "Of course."
"Know what?" Shippou came bounding out from behind the hut, a red ball in his hands. A few village children ran past, waving their goodbyes to the little demon. Shippou waved back.
"Nothing," Kagome smiled.
Sango sighed. "I must go find Hoshi and talk to him about it then." She hugged Kagome suddenly. "I'm glad your back," she said into her ear.
Kagome nodded in the hug. "Me, too, Sango. Me, too."
_-_-_-_ _-_-_-_ _-_-_-_ _-_-_-_ _-_-_-_
"Kagome-sama."
Kagome stood from where she knelt with the village children to address the monk that had called her.
"Miroku. Congradulations." Kagome beamed at him, her hands behind her back.
A slight blush reached his cheeks. "Um..." he coughed. "Thanks." Then to lighten the mood, he stuck his arms out as if to hug her. "How about a hug on your return?"
Kagome eye'd him, one eyebrow raised. "And be groped by you?"
Mirkou laughed uneasily. "Of course not."
Kagome just shook her head, a smile on her face. "It really is good to be back."
Miroku came to stand beside her, and the two started walking side by side through the village, no destination in mind.
Silence hung in the air as they walked. Kagome looked down at Miroku's uncovered hand.
"So how does it feel knowing you won't be sucked up anymore?"
Miroku gave her a weird look then laughed. "Great, really. Knowing your not going to die any time soon due to a black hold in your hand really brightens your day."
Kagome giggled. "I'm happy for you. And Sango."
"And I wish we could be happy for you," he said softly.
Kagome gave him a puzzeled look.
"I know it must be hard for you to return here."
Kagome just nodded. Miroku had always been there for her, to help her and give her advice; even before and after Sango had joined the team. He was a good friend.
"You've been avoiding him, havn't you?"
Kagome nodded again.
The two came to the edge of the village. Just down the small hill in front of them was the rice crops. A few woman could be seen picking, and there were a few children off to the side flying a kite.
Miroku turned around to face the village still speaking as Kagome watched the villagers below.
"You'll have to confront him at some point, Kagome."
"I know," Kagome said softly.
"Inuyasha never did tell us what happened between you two."
Kagome shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. "He opened his big mouth again." She paused. "And he never came to bring me back."
Miroku nodded in understanding, even though he knew Kagome wasn't watching him.
"I'm be afraid, too."
"What?" Kagome turned to look at him.
He looked down at her. "To come back to the place where I knew the one I love betrayed me. I'd be afriad."
"But I never said...." But she was interupted.
"You didn't have to say anything. I know it, Sango knows it. And in some small part in the back of his mind, I think Inuaysha knows it, too." Miroku put a hand on her shoulder.
"You can't run forever."
Kagome nodded. "Miroku?"
"Hmm?"
"What... what happened between Inuyasha and Kikyo... after I left?"
Miroku sighed. "He went and saw her..." Miroku looked at the depressed features on her face, "... one last time."
Kagome looked at him not knowing what to think, or what to say for that matter.
"It all happened the same day you left. He came back to the village and said Kikyo was gone for good. He never did elaberate." A pause. "And he had the jewel. That's how we knew you wouldn't be coming back."
Kagome nodded. "I... I threw the jewel at him. It rightfully belonged to him anyway. And I went home." Kagome wiped a few tears away that had started to leak. "I figured he could have the jewel, he could have Kikyo, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped that maybe.... just maybe.... he'd forget about all that and come get me. But... but he never did." Kagome choaked in a snob. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
"Don't be sorry," Miroku said, pulling the small girl into his arms. And there Kagome cried. She cried like the day she had left the Sengoku Jidai. When she had left everything and everyone she loved behind.
"Oh, Miroku!" Kagome cried, falling to her knees, bringing the monk with her. "I was so stupid. I told him I loved him. Why did I love him?" Kagome caught a few snobs before continuing. "If he never cared about me, then why did he always save me from danger? Why did he ever let me get close? Why did he get so jealous with Kouga around? I don't understand him. Did he love me or Kikyo?"
"Kagome..." Miroku sighed. "I'm not taking sides." He helped her up, her crying slowly ababting. "But try to look at it on his point of view. A hanyou who nobody has ever loved. Then Kikyo, and her betrayal. And then you, who looks so much like Kikyo, yet, is nothing like her." He paused.
She sniffled.
"Think about how he must have been confused. Since the very begginning." Another pause. "I think Inuyasha is just afriad. He'd been betrayed before. What's to say it wouldn't happen again?"
"But I wouldn't..!"
"But does he know that?" A sigh. "Kagome. I think the only way to get things straight between you two would be for you to approach him about it. He knows how you feel. Go find out how he feels."
"But... but I'm afraid."
"Of what?"
"That... that he'll hate me, tell me he doesn't feel the same...."
"But then you'd never know unless you actually said something to him."Miroku looked off into the distance, toward the BoneEaters Well. "And if all fails, you always have your home to go back to."
Kagome nodded. She wiped her last tear away. "Thank you, Miroku."
He smiled down at her. "Anytime. And hey, don't worry too much. Everything will be alright."
"How can you be sure?"
He shrugged. "Just a feeling I have."
Kagome nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. She looked up into the blue sky. It was a little after noon. She had plently of time to find Inuyasha. And she knew where he would be. It was time for for to approach him.