Disclaimer-I don't own Inuyasha! pouts I am getting so sick of typing that!

A/N- I am so, so, so, sorry about the long delay. I had writer's block when I was halfway through typing this.

I hope you enjoy reading!

Thanks For Reviewing!-

Kin103- Actually, no. I just wanted back my CD because I missed the songs. And here's the next chapter. Dodges your whack HA! How did I know you would hit me? =D

Sherry- O.O uh…stays out of your way Um, this is very looong for a chapter written by me. ;;;

IworshipInuSessyMalfoyLebeau- Oh really? I have dozens of scenarios in how Inu and Kag might end up. TT I just can't believe the series has probably ended by now…damn it really stinks to not live in Japan right now! BlackPhoenix-sama- I didn't keep the font Times New Roman. Kinda messed it up. shrugs Oh well…o.O not another death threat  

Let Go

Chapter 9

 Inuyasha took what was meant as a nap during the night, but it somehow developed into deep sleep. It was his first actual good night's sleep in months, ever since he had seen Kagome come back. From then on, he kept an eye on her 24/7.

He woke up pretty early, much to his dislike. The sky was a dark, pale shade of blue, with the hint of a sunrise soon. Two people were quarreling in the hut, and he could hear each word pretty loud.

"Keh, wonder what the two lovebirds are arguing about this time?" Inuyasha mused, knowing perfectly well Kagome would never break into arguments as often.   

His ears twitched at the word 'gone'. Maybe they're talking about Kagome…? He shrugged the thought off, before he could get any ideas that had a slim chance of happening. What he heard next almost made him topple off the branch and fall out of the tree.

"Where is Kagome-chan?!" Sango asked.

"I don't know. I saw her sleeping in her futon last night," Miroku replied patiently. "Maybe she went back to her own time to get…." He faltered, beginning to trail off but finished what he was saying. "…One of her items needed?" 

 "No, that can't be. She always leaves behind all her belongings!" Sango stressed out.

"Then…where could she be, Sango-sama?"

It's answer clicked inside of a certain hanyou's head.

She's gone for good this time 

He knew where she was going, and, he hoped, she hadn't gotten there yet. Inuyasha stood up, ignoring the sudden crack and brisk numbness in all of his limbs. As he literally sprinted from tree to tree, a memory entered his head.

"Inuyasha, you know what?" Kagome said as they were preparing for a battle.

The hanyou flicked his ears at her, muttering a "Keh! As if I would want to know," under his breath. Kagome glared at him, cuffing him on the same ear that had flicked at her.

"You shouldn't crack your knuckles like that, or else you're going to get horrible arthritis when you turn old," she stated, not caring if he was listening or not.

He fixed a 'like I care?' expression on his face, before stating several facts of his own. "First of all, I'm a hanyou. I don't age as easily like you pathetic humans do. Second of all, what in the damn world is arthritis???"

Inuyasha placed a smile on his face, disappearing a split second later when he caught her scent. He landed softly onto the lush grass, running towards her disappearing figure and pulled just in time on her way-too-huge backpack. 

Kagome hung there, suspended in the well. With a shriek, she turned her head around to find that it was only Inuyasha.

She did a double take.

Inuyasha?!!!

Whatever came out of her mouth, not even a pair of highly sensitive dog-ears could hear it. But the pair of sharp eyes caught the held in sob, shuddering form keeping quiet.

"Ka-Kagome?" Inuyasha silently whispered her name, afraid of her response.  Is she going to yell at me? After all these years…

"Would you mind either letting go or pulling me up?" her voice replied, holding a sickingly sweet cheerful beat to it. Even the dumbest of all youkais could detect she was masking her emotions right now.             

Inuyasha chose the latter, pulling her out and settled her on the ledge of the well where they had sat together so many times before. Heck, they've been in this small meadow so many times before together, Inuyasha lost count.

Kagome gave him a cheerful smile, the glow never entering her eyes. For the next several, several minutes, noone spoke, just sitting in awkward silence.

She chose to speak first. "Look Inuyasha, I'm going back to my time. For good. No more of this playing hide and seek with the well and its time portal."

He nodded, understanding her completely. But yet…"Kagome, please don't leave. You have plenty of friends here, close enough to be family," his voice came out cracking.

"And some are close enough to be much more then just friends or family," she softly replied, a tear escaping her eye. "But, whatever chance my friend and I had, it disappeared years ago-it disappeared more then 50 years ago. My friend met his soul mate, and I'm fine with the fact that he and his soul mate decided to be together."

Inuyasha tightened his fists until they tuned white, then purple. He knew what she was talking about; he knew she was talking about Kikyou and himself.

"Your friend's soul mate is gone-for good," he said, repeating what she had just said in the beginning. "And this friend of yours can't quite understand why would you be willing to leave all your good friends behind."

Kagome shook her head, first slowly, then whipping her long hair as her head threatened to disconnect from her neck.

"No…I can't answer that Inuyasha. Its too…private, personal," she muttered. Go now Higurashi! Quit sitting here talking to him! You're just making it harder on yourself. "Goodbye Inuyasha."

With that, she turned around and stepped into the well for a final time, except-

Inuyasha grabbed her, hugging her and placed a quick kiss onto her lips. Kagome's eyes widened, feeling her body-and his-heating up with the desire for each other.

"I'll miss you Kagome. And don't you ever, ever dare say that you regret meeting me," he whispered into her ear, before pushing her into the well.

She stared, a surprised, horror-struck look on her face as she fell, and fell, and fell. He caught the scent of salt-water knowing perfectly well she was crying.

Goodbye…

Spilt second later

"Inuyasha!!!"

Two people and a fox-child sprung out of the nearby bushes. One looked at him quite calmly for an explanation, one was flabbergasted at what had just occurred in front of her eyes, and one was mad, his eye twitching.

The latter, of course, made his first move by hitting the hanyou on his head. It, of course, didn't hurt.

"How could you just let her leave like that?!!!" Shippou yelled, turning purple with contained rage while Inuyasha gave no comment. Sango walked up to Inuyasha, a 'do explain' look in her eyes as plain as day while she pulled the kit away from him.  Miroku came upon them, clearing his throat with a loud cough.

Inuyasha looked away from all of them, staring defiantly at the ground.

"We would all like to be enlightened," Miroku began calmly enough, "by whatever reasoning it was for hiding on your friends-especially Kagome- and finally reappear after countless months to force Kagome-sama to her own time without her consent!" He didn't mean it for his last words to be filled with anger and short patience.

"Sit," Inuyasha ordered the three, his eyes glazing over as the three plopped down onto the areas where they stood.

"See…"

I had decided that night, when I went to Kikyou, to tell her that I would choose Kagome over her. But Kagome had pretty much appeared out of nowhere. She answered for me before running away. Kikyou had this…weird look on her face. "You would actually choose me?" she had asked. I replied no, it was Kagome in the end. Kikyou smiled and said, "I've been waiting to hear that ever since I found out the only way I could actually go back to the afterlife was through your decision." I didn't know that. And we both wanted to tell Kagome. But by the time we reached the hut, she wasn't there. Kikyou was crushed but she knew that with my decision made, she would leave.

Kikyou disappeared soon in the aftermath. The last I ever saw of her was when she was walking into the forest, her soul-stealing demons gone.

I know you guys were there when I attempted to go back into the well. But for some reason, it remained closed for me. I knew why it had done that. The time portal is linked to Kagome's feelings. She wanted to shut Sengoku Jidai out from her life. And, so the well shut off its link from this world to hers.

Kaede knew what had happened. So, she kept me calm by telling me of that. After that, I came to her to answer my questions with intelligent answers. When she died, I saw that I was just another mouth to feed in this small village and left. I didn't really leave though. I hung around nearby, always keeping an eye on you guys.

When she came back, I was filled with pain and happiness at the same time. I couldn't bear to talk to her. When she was attacked by the demon that impersonated me, I knew I needn't be there to protect her and ran to you guys instead to save her.

And I also knew, that I needn't show my face to her in any circumstances. I was waiting for her to think of her feelings and whatever decisions she made. And the decision she made was to stay in her own era. I accepted it. In the end, I knew what I had to do. I had to let go.

For once and for all, just let go.

They all understood, even Shippou. He was silently awed by how smart Inuyasha really was. Sango bit her lip, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. She was touched at how understanding he was.

Miroku just stared at his hand, the hand with the hole in it.

"We understand Inuyasha," Sango began to talk for the group. "We understand…we all have to let her go too and get on with out lives here. In Japan. In the so-called Feudal-Era where she could not stay."

Inuyasha grimaced but recovered quickly. He caught Miroku looking at his palm and smiled.

"Don't worry Miroku. We'll get our revenge on Naraku. We'll all get our revenge. We can still go on collecting shards without her help. And we'll defeat him."

They all walked back towards the village, with one thing in their mind:

Its time to let go

A/N- This is the last chapter.

This is my 2nd finished fic.

Throws a small party

I've dragged this fic on for sooo long! In some ways, I'm glad to get it done and over with. I hope Inuyasha's/my explanation was good enough for you to understand. If not, mention any questions that you have in your review. I'll post up a chapter with answering all the questions you have.