BluePuppy - to answer your sequel question, you will know in time…in time…IN TIME!!!!
DarkHeartKeyblade - I'm no teacher but now that we reached the end I hope lessons are learned.
Youkaigirl99 - My you are one impatient girl, I bet you'll be even more impatient when you find out what is at the end of this closing chapter!
THE END PEOPLES! Once again I'm using the bunching method for the final chapter…which is this yo!
But make sure you read all the way down for the surprise.
Chapter Fourteen
Ustka, two months later
Springtime was cold and mere silent. You couldn't tell the difference between the roaring planes and the howling winds.
No one was used to this temporary way of life, with no food, no shelter and no money. Some people died during the winter from starvation. While the rest were wise enough to scavenge and ration everything they owned.
Every one of them expected to turn out alone after the terrors would end. None of them knew that they would end up together here, their only fear being running out of money.
No one walked around in their filthy, Jewish-sploited uniforms anymore. They got to wear normal warm clothes, even if they weren't the cleanest or the nicest.
Kagome hated walking but it was worth the feeling of the cool breeze hitting her back and her head resting on his shoulder as they strolled.
"I thought I would be alone in the end," said Inuyasha.
"Me too," said Kagome.
The pair had found each other at last through an unbelievable stroke of hope and chance. Even outside the camps, the pair stayed thin. They had gotten used to the idea of eating little that they continued to do so and it helped them save a lot of money.
They were asked to do the shopping and to baby-sit Rin. Sango and Miroku were cleaning the boat that they were going to use to set sail. As long as they stayed out of the war's hair, no one cared where exactly they would soon be traveling to.
"Survival has a lot to do with strength, Kagome," said Inuyasha. "You had a lot of that in you. I could see it."
"I learned from the best," she said hugging him tighter.
"Nah, I was just lucky. I mean considering."
Kagome sensed the change of expression on his face. They spent most of the day doing the one thing that Inuyasha felt he had to do and they failed.
"I'm sorry we couldn't find any news on your brother," Kagome said calmly.
"Well, I guess now I can say that I at least tried to pay him back for what he did."
"Yes, I would've never met you nor would I still be alive," said Kagome in a positive manner.
Rin ran ahead of them towards a vendor. Actually it was a truck with junk in the back of it. A sign was leaning against the vehicle saying "Goods, Loot from Warzaw, very cheap".
Inuyasha went up to the truck to grab Rin, but something in that pile of junk caught his eye. He passed the vendor and reached over to grab a small ragged bear. It was dusty and dirty.
"Huh?" said Kagome.
"Oh it's nothing. This looked exactly like the bear that Sesshomaru owned. He used to say he would snap my neck if I ever came near it."
"Are we talking about the same brother who saved you?"
"Yeah. What a complex guy."
The vendor saw that he had a customer opportunity and approached the couple. "Ooh, if that used to be a part of your family, I can sell it back to you for 10 mark."
"Forget it, old man! I said it looked like-"
"Exactly like," the vendor corrected him.
"My point is, we don't have that kind of money to spend on junk right now and we need to get going, right Kagome?"
"Yeah, come on Rin," Kagome said. She and Inuyasha began walking but when Kagome took one glimpse back she forced Inuyasha to stop. "Wha?" he said.
Rin stayed by the vendor truck messing with that bear. "Put that back, Rin. We have to go." Kagome grabbed Rin arm but all she could do was whimper refusing to let go of the dirty bear.
"I think she wants the bear, Inuyasha."
"Kagome, we can't afford to blow 10 mark on a toy while you and I continue to be skin and bones."
"Inuyasha, stop being ridiculous. We can hardly get any food with that much money."
"We can hardly get any money," said Inuyasha trying to defend his case. He noticed Kagome giving him a stern look.
"Alright alright," said Inuyasha. He turned to Rin as he gave the 10 mark to the vendor. "Your mom and dad better pay me back for this," he said referring to Sango and Miroku.
"Man, how can one stand being around kids?" said Inuyasha watching as Rin was running around with her old bear.
Kagome snuggled up to her lover. "Come on, Inuyasha. You're saying as though having a family is a bad thing."
"I'm not saying it's not. I mean we just have ourselves as it is. I can stand to have more people around."
"Great then, we can start making our own…oh." Kagome's excitement was brutally crushed as she put her hands to her stomach. Even if she never had that castration, she was still too weak and thin to bear children anyway.
"Kagome, don't be crying now," whispered Inuyasha. "It'll be okay. I mean, once we're settled down somewhere and have enough money, we can adopt a kid."
"Really?" asked Kagome.
"Yeah, maybe someone who got screwed over from this war like we did."
Kagome gave Inuyasha a huge kiss. "I would love that so much. So you do realize that you never formally proposed marriage to me, right?!"
"!!!!!"
………
A few more weeks later, Inuyasha and Miroku are standing on the harbor. The air and the water became warmer in deep April and there was less plane and war noise surrounding them.
"It's time eh?" asked Inuyasha.
"Yes. We should be able to get to Sweden in a day and from there, if we're lucky we could go farther west."
"What did you had in mind, England?" asked Inuyasha.
"No, I was thinking America," said Miroku.
"Whoa, man. That's going out on a limb, there. I heard good stories about that place but some bad ones too.
"Like what?" asked Miroku.
"Like the man who starve to death after he got off the boat but before they could actually let in into the country.
Miroku could only laugh at this. "You don't have much faith do you. It is a big place but it's so well protected from atrocities and they know what it's like for people to not have any money.
"Well, then Miroku. If you think that this America is the place to be, I could give it a shot. It could be a great place for Kagome and me."
That would be the last time they ever saw a sun rise like that above glistening waters. The next time they ever saw a sight like that it would be one year later as they stepped out before a tall green metal figure looking out to the broken east they escaped from.
The United States of America, 1947
"So you were involved in the Holocaust?" asked the woman behind the desk. "That must've been a devastating time for the both of you."
"It was," said Kagome as she snuggled next to Inuyasha. "But we fought through it and now we've been healing and resting our wounds."
"I see," said the lady. "Now what is the cause of seeking to adopt?"
"Um…Kagome had a…castration back in the camp days," said Inuyasha.
"Oh my," said the lady. "Well, the orphanages in Poland have been piling up with Jewish children who lost parents and since you two got approved for citizenship, maybe you would be interested in giving someone from you type of situation a chance at a new life."
"Yes, that would be a great idea," said Kagome.
The lady handed Kagome and Inuyasha an album to look through the endless pictures of children they could adopt. Kagome could sense that Inuyasha wanted a boy.
"How about this one," Kagome said pointing to a small red head.
"Oh…well…he's not one of the Jewish orphans though. He's German. I do believe he lost his parents in the Air Raids in Berlin."
"Oh, that's terrible," said Kagome.
"Yeah, turn the page, Kagome," said Inuyasha.
"No wait, Inuyasha. I want to adopt him."
"Kagome, you've lost your mind completely. He doesn't look like us, he's not from the same country as us, and it sure seems as obvious as heck that his family didn't follow the same religion as us."
"But Inuyasha, your father wasn't Jewish. Havent you ever considered how much sympathy he had for Jews like you and your mom?"
"You mean before or after he got hanged for betrayal?" asked Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, we hardly practice being Jewish since we got out. I mean the least we could do is let the boy decide what he wants to be. The important thing is that he needs some parents to love him. So…"
"So…what's his name then," Inuyasha asked the woman. Kagome gave a heart felt smile knowing that things would definitely be changing for them.
"His name is Shippo."
………
Two families lived in a double house in the deep and not so rich parts of the city, but each and every one of those people in that one single patch of land knew what it was like to have lost everything and everyone.
And those two families became closer to one. They worked together to overcome the hardships of being aliens. It seemed as though the Holocaust became nothing but a distant memory.
Sadly, there were no photos of lost family members to look back on. Everyone depended on their memories.
The things that stood out from the ashes that survived the most horrid of hardships now became one solid foundation based on love and persistence.
The past would always haunt them, no mistake in that. The future told them that they could become a protected and wonderful family like the ones they were a part of before.
Maybe it was these things, hope and chance, fate and destiny, miracles and coincidences, that told Kagome she would someday be here on the front porch of their house with her husband and her son. And right next time, her two best friends and their daughter. And they all supported each other to prove to the other Americans that they definitely knew the meaning of hardships.
Because America was just a place. Because ever since Kagome met Inuyasha outside of that shack in the ghetto, a part of her already felt free.
………
Finding freedom doesn't spell happily ever after. It spells new starts, new obstacles to overcome and these situations could not be foreseen.
Something would come from across the ocean…from the remains of the darkness which they suffered, that would changed their lives once again…
…and none of them would be prepared for it.
The journey concludes in the short story…"A Wound Left Behind". Coming soon!