DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own Inuyasha or anything to do with it.

You're not Alone

By: Of Memories Past

Part II

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The scenery raced by on the darkened road as Inuyasha and Kagome silently rode back to Kagome's house, content to simply enjoy each other's company. Kagome remained surprised at what a good driver Inuyasha was; after all, it had not been long ago when the very idea of a moving mass of metal frightened him. Even if he refused to admit it. But he was so well adapted now and lived in her current era as if he had been accustomed to it all of his life.

"Well, he has been," Kagome though, sneaking a glance at Inuyasha. "And now he knows more than I ever did." She pondered at the way the tables had turned and then reached out to gently run her fingers through his silky, black hair.

"What?" he asked, taking his eyes off the road a minute to give her a questioning look.

Kagome shook her head and smiled. "It's just that I haven't been able to see you as human very much." She continued playing with the ends of his hair, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the strands falling through her fingers.

Inuyasha scowled, though he did not mind that she played with his hair. "It's repulsive." He focused back on the road again with his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel.

"Repulsive?" Kagome asked, her eyes wide with puzzlement. "Why would it be repulsive?"

"I'm weak when I'm human," he explained, turning into her driveway and shutting off the engine. "And whether I'm still a hanyou or not, being in this form reminds me of that." He frowned. "It's just unattractive."

The peal of laughter bursting from her startled him, and he turned to face her in the car. She only laughed harder at the bewilderment etched on his face.

"I don't see what's so funny," he bristled. Crossing his arms over his chest, he turned to face the window.

"Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome said, the mirth still abundantly resting in her eyes. She reached forward and lightly grasped his chin to turn him toward her.

He allowed her to pull his face around, a slight frown still fixed on it as eye contact was made. "What?" His tone was curt, proving that he was still in a sour mood.

However, Kagome simply smiled and brushed back the dark bangs, unbuckling her seatbelt so as to move closer. "Unattractive?"

"Feh."

"You're not unattractive in the least, Inuyasha," she said. Kagome lifted her face and kissed his cheek. "And neither are you repulsive." She kissed his forehead. "And you're never weak." She smiled and kissed his other cheek before a coy expression crossed her countenance. "How could you be if I loved doing this?" She leaned forward and softly pressed her lips to his, happiness filling her being when she felt him respond immediately.

"Kagome," he groaned as she pulled away, reaching out and drawing her back into his arms. His mouth found hers instantly, carefully caressing her own, and he knew that he would never grow tired of kissing her. It was dangerous what she could do to him.

Kagome smiled between kisses and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into his embrace more. She had missed him more than she ever could have imagined. "Inuyasha," she breathed when a low sound rumbled in his chest. He was purring? A small giggle escaped before he once again placed his mouth over hers. She laid her hand against his chest, aware of the vibrations deep within caused by his purring.

Inuyasha pulled away suddenly, smiling gently. "We have to stop."

"Why?" she whispered, running her hand over his chest. She missed the feeling of the vibrations.

Resting his forehead against hers, he kissed the tip of her nose. "Because you won't like where this goes if we don't."

Kagome blushed. "Oh."

He opened the door and climbed out, moving around to the other side to open Kagome's door for her. She was still blushing as she stepped away from the car, but nevertheless reached for his hand while they made their way up to the front door. They paused before they entered, Inuyasha giving her a smile of reassurance as she opened the door.

Kagome took a deep breath and reached for the door. She knew well that the next couple of hours would be full of nothing but questions. "Mom, I'm home!" She stepped through in front of Inuyasha just in time to see her mother racing around the corner.

"Kagome!" She threw her arms around her daughter, holding her tightly. "We were so worried, and then your friend called. What happened?" She pulled back and looked at her daughter's smiling face. "Kagome?"

Mrs. Higurashi looked up as the tall, dark man entered her home and went to stand beside her daughter. She looked at him with wide eyes, her hand going to her throat.

Kagome swallowed, knowing that her mother had never seen Inuyasha in his human form. For all she knew, he was a complete and total stranger who brought her daughter home.

"Mama, it's ok. It's…"

"If you were interested in an older man, you could have at least mentioned it to me, Kagome." Mrs. Higurashi gave her daughter a stern look.

"Huh?" Kagome paused and looked at Inuyasha. Her mother was right. He did look to be at least twenty.

"How old are you, and who are you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, bravely stepping up to the man with long black hair that had taken her daughter home. She fixed him with a glare, letting him know that no man was going to hurt her daughter.

Inuyasha took in a deep breath, slightly annoyed that even though he was in his human form, he was not recognized in this house. "I'm over five hundred and fifty years old." He paused as Mrs. Higurashi's eyes widened to their fullest. "Mrs. Higurashi, it's me."

"Inuyasha?" She reached forward and grasped a fistful of the long, dark hair, her eyes full of wonder as she looked down on it.

Kagome stepped forward and carefully removed the golden chain around his neck and watched her mother with a smile on her face as the hanyou's normal appearance slowly changed back. Mrs. Higurashi seemed to be completely stunned as the man before her turned into the demon who had followed her daughter home time and time again only a year beforehand.

A sudden grin spread across the woman's face. "Oh!" she squealed reaching for his ears. "Inuyasha, I thought that we would never see you again!" After tweaking his ears, Kagome's mother turned and started walking to the kitchen excitedly. "I'm going to make some ramen!" With that, she disappeared, chattering the whole way and telling Kagome that she wanted the whole story later that night.

Inuyasha gingerly rubbed his sore ears before taking the necklace out of Kagome's hands and placing it around his neck once again. He sighed with relief after the transformation when he reached up to feel his ears and did not find them.

Kagome raised an eyebrow at the now dark-haired hanyou, wondering at the strange action.

He smirked. "They're safe now."

Laughing, Kagome went and put her arms around him, smiling even more when he laughed with her.

Inuyasha held her out from him and looked down at her with a smile on his face before lowering his lips to hers and kissing her tenderly. He cherished having the freedom to do so.

Kagome sighed contently and closed her eyes, kissing him back. She knew that her mother would be busy in the kitchen for at least another ten minutes.

"Kagome, who's that you're kissing?"

"Souta!" Kagome gasped, pulling away instantly. Her face turned vibrant shades of red as she stammered her excuse. "Um, Souta, this is…"

But the little boy's lit up as he looked into the violet ones of the man before him. He walked forward until he was standing right in front of his sister's "friend."

Inuyasha grinned lopsidedly. "Remember me?"

"Inuyasha!" Souta shouted, rushing forward to hug his hero. "What happened? You look human!"

Shaking with laughter, Kagome stepped forward and took her brother by his hand. "Sit down Souta, it's a long story."

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"You're home late."

Throwing his keys onto the coffee table, Inuyasha collapsed next to Kirara's seven-year-old form on the couch where she currently read a book of Shakespearean sonnets. It had been a long day. The past few days had been long days. First they find Kagome again, and then work demands that he work late nights, trying to make a sudden contract deadline for the company he currently worked for. Another job amongst the hundreds that he had had. He pulled the humanlike fire-cat into his lap and began to gently stroke her hair and back, grinning as a high-pitched purr sounded throughout the living room. Human form or not, the small youkai still loved to be scratched and snuggled up under his chin just as she would have in her kitten form.

"Have a good day?" he asked, chuckling when she playfully swatted at his bangs. Some traits just did not change as a youkai switched between forms.

Kirara nodded. "I spent most of the day shopping."

He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Oh lots of things," the childlike Kirara grinned. "Grocery shopping, found some new clothes for you and Shippo, bought myself a few things. I even found a gift for Kagome."

"What is it?" he asked interested.

"Just a small hair comb," she replied absently, "but it looks like the Goshinboku blossoms when they bloom. I thought she might like it." Kirara stretched and then affectionately pecked his cheek. She had come to love Inuyasha just as she had Sango over the centuries that had been together. "Dinner is in the oven, and Shippo should be home shortly. Do you need anything else?"

Inuyasha shook his head.

"Good. Then you won't mind if I get a little more comfortable." Kirara took her own necklace off and happily chirped as she regained her kitten form. Licking his nose, she bounded off the couch and into her bedroom to sleep.

Inuyasha sighed and walked over to the oven to take his and Shippo's dinner out. He quietly prepared two plates, set them on the table, and waited for the young kit to come home.

Sure enough, Shippo trudged tiredly into the house a few minutes later. His long reddish hair hung loose, an obvious sign that he was worn out. The green eyes were half closed as he barely made it to the table, sat down, and began to eat.

"Tired?" Inuyasha asked, joining him.

Shippo looked up from his food and glared at Inuyasha. "Considering that I had to register for school and all of Kagome's classes today so that I could keep an eye on her for you while she was at school—yes I'm tired." He took a bit of the salad that Kirara had prepared and glowered once again at his surrogate father. "And I'm mad at you." Stubbornly knifing his food, Shippo shoved a forkful into his mouth and chewed violently.

"Why are you mad at me?" Inuyasha asked calmly. He was too tired to argue. A total of four hours of sleep in three days did not settle well for even a hanyou.

Shippo settled back into his chair and continued glaring. "One, I'm stuck in school again. For the forty-second time, I might add. And two, Kagome has a health class."

Cautiously, the hanyou glanced at Shippo. He knew where this was going.

But Shippo refused to back down this time. "So I ask you again…"

"Now, Shippo…"

"WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM AND WHAT IS SEX?!" The kitsune sat fuming in his chair. "And don't tell me that you'll tell me when I'm older again. You've been saying that for two hundred years."

Inuyasha was still staring wide-eyed at how blunt Shippo had been. He had never put it that way before. He grimaced, knowing that he had run out of excuses. "Finish your dinner and then we'll talk." Standing up, Inuyasha went to the kitchen to wash his plate.

"Oh yes, Dad," Shippo seethed. "We're going to have the talk."

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Two hours and a string of curse words later, Shippo silently sat on the edge of his bed trying to digest everything that Inuyasha had just told him. Okay, maybe he should have waited another two hundred years to hear that. At the moment he felt rather sick.

"Happy now?" Inuyasha growled, standing up to leave. He craved sleep more than anything at the moment. But Shippo called to him just as he reached the door.

"Inuyasha?"

The hanyou sighed and stopped in the doorway. "Yes, Shippo?"

The sound of knuckles cracking together echoed in the room "If you ever do that to Kagome, I'll kill you."

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Kagome climbed out of her bath, dressed, and brushed her hair out as usual before climbing into bed. She snuggled under the soft sheets, turned the light out, and was about to shut her eyes when a creaking noise turned her attention to the window. Curiously she sat up in bed, looking out into the dark night and shivering as a bit of cold air rushed in. Perplexed, she pursed her lips. That was funny. She could not see anything…

However, seconds later a clawed hand showed up underneath the window and raised the glass as quietly as possible. Inuyasha climbed into her room, dressed in the ancient red haori. The long, silver hair blew gently in the night breeze until he once again closed the windowpane. His amber eyes slid over to the resting form in the bed.

She held out her arms with a smile on her face, welcoming his warmth as he immediately went to them. "You're here late," she whispered, reaching up to scratch his ears.

Inuyasha nodded and buried his face into her neck, inhaling her scent and softly kissing the flesh there. "I needed to bring you some things."

"Bring me some things?" she asked confused.

He nodded, shedding the red haori and pulling a small bundle out from the white yukata underneath. "This is from Kirara." He handed her the small blossom comb and watched with a smile as she ran her fingers over the delicate object. While she pulled the comb back in her hair, he reached back into the bundle and pulled out a framed drawing. "Shippo made this for you."

Kagome gasped. It was a picture of the shrine five hundred years ago! "Oh, it's beautiful! He draws so well."

Inuyasha agreed before placing three rather thick, individual bundles in her lap. He remained quiet for a moment. "And these are from Miroku, Sango, and Kaede." He grasped her hand as tears once again filled her eyes. "They wrote you everyday until the day they died."

"Thank you," she whispered, placing the bundles aside and going into his arms. Her friends. They made sure that she would not have to live without them.

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and lay back on the bed, holding her closely as the tears continued coming. He rested his chin atop her head as the sobs began to subside.

"Feel any better?"

Kagome nodded. "These things just take time."

Inuyasha agreed, tucking her under the covers and pulling them up tightly around her. Even with tear streaks running down her face, she was beautiful. He leaned down and kissed her before heading for the window. "Tomorrow night," he asked cautiously, "are you busy?"

She shook her head and smiled as she watched him self-consciously bite his lip.

"Spend the evening with me?"

Kagome nodded her head. "You know that I will.'

With one last smile, Inuyasha disappeared into the night.

"Goodnight," she whispered. Kagome hugged her knees to her chest and sorrowfully glanced at the small stacks of letters. She missed them terribly.

Sighing she pulled out one of the letters that Sango had written her. The old paper was still in great condition. Kagome felt the tears start to well in her eyes again as she looked upon her friend's handwriting. Swallowing a sob, she began reading.

Dearest Kagome,

     None of us could believe it when the well sealed. We tried for hours to open it back up, but it was hopeless. I cannot even comprehend the thought of never seeing you again. I hate the very thought of it. I hate that in five hundred years when you are born, I will not be able to greet you like the others will. But Kagome, I will not allow time to keep us apart from each other. You will still be here with me every day. I will miss you, my dearest friend, but we will get through this. It already helps knowing that one day you will get these letters of mine. Know that I will never forget you and will still always tell you everything as we both did before. I will talk to you again tomorrow!

Love,

Sango

Kagome folded up the letter and placed it with the others before crawling back underneath the covers. The torrent of tears began once more.

A/N: Second part complete and more to come! Review please. I would great appreciate your comments. God Bless! ~Of Memories Past.