A/N: The epilogue! Of course, you all still don't know whether or not they actually beat Naraku...bwa ha ha. No worries, though. You're going to find out shortly! Hope you like it!

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Missing In Action: Epilogue

Kagome surveyed the scene before her eyes. Miroku was sprawled out on the grass. He was bleeding from some unknown injury, but he was alive. Sango was leaning over him. She had him wrapped in so tight a hug that Kagome feared she would strangle him to death.

Not far from where she herself was sitting, little Shippo was plucking at pieces of the grass. There was a smile on his face, and a small gash on his head. He waved happily at Kagome, pointed to his little red badge of courage proudly as if to say, "Ha! I'm still alive!" Kagome laughed.

She seemed to be okay. She wasn't much for walking at the moment. There was a gash in her side much like the one she had received from the centipede demon, and her knee was a strange purple color. She did not mind the pain. After all, she was alive, and Naraku was dead, and the jewel shards were safely back in her hands.

"That was so close," she whispered to herself. "It's amazing we're all still here..."

She looked up to see Sesshoumaru standing atop a small hill. He was watching the sunrise. All of his features, which had once scared Kagome, now seemed pacified in the early morning light. She studied him. He appeared to have no external injuries.

Everyone was all right, except....

Kagome limped slowly over to where Inuyasha knelt next to Kikyou. As far as Kagome knew, Kikyou had not spoken since she had told Kagome to run. That had been hours ago....

"Is she all right, Inuyasha?" asked Kagome as gently as she could manage.

"She's still breathing, but it is very faint," he admitted.

Kagome placed her hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "I'm sorry Inuyasha. If I just done what I knew I could have..."

"It's not your fault, foolish girl..." Kikyou gasped. Inuyasha and Kagome both stared at her.

"But I..." began Kagome.

"No. Do not blame yourself. This was not your doing. I made a choice..." she sighed. "I understood...I sat there watching you...I heard Naraku and all his foolish talk...and I understood. All this time, it had been he, and not Inuyasha...and I had died thinking..." Kikyou groaned.

Kagome's eyes welled up with tears. "Don't speak, Kikyou! I can go fetch Kaede, and she can help you, and then you and Inuyasha can...."

"No!" Kikyou objected loudly, surprising both Inuyasha and Kagome. "No. It is not natural. This is the second time I have been struck down...and it will be the last. Besides..." she stared up at Inuyasha, "I know how you feel now. I couldn't take that away from you. Not after what happened..."

"Huh?" Kagome frowned.

"I noticed it at first when I took Kagome to Naraku. I thought that he would help me to destroy Inuyasha..." she groaned. "I had no intention of giving him the jewel fragments, but Inuyasha was so willing to give everything when he found that Kagome had been taken. I began to understand then..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "Then, as I watched, I saw the same sort of fear in Kagome's eyes. She wouldn't shoot...she would have died right there...the same fate I had to suffer...and I could not allow it to happen again..."

"Kikyou..." smiled Kagome. "Thank you."

Kikyou turned her head to face Inuyasha. "I understand, Inuyasha. It is okay. I'm okay...I have finally found my peace. Now, I want you to find yours."

Inuyasha nodded understandingly. "Thank you, Kikyou," he smiled at her. "Thank you for everything..."

Inuyasha and Kagome stayed with Kikyou until she took her final breath. When she finally died, nearly thirty minutes after her speech, there was no body left to take back to her sister's village. She seemed to have disappeared right before their eyes. Inuyasha frowned, smiled, and then slowly stood up.

"Come on, Kagome. I know a monk that probably needs a hospital right now," he whispered.

Kagome nodded.

The group made its way back to Kaede's village with the good news. The shikon jewel shards, once they were all reunited, reformed to become the beautiful jewel they had once been.

Kagome carefully placed the newly reformed jewel around her neck.

"Inuyasha..." she called.

"Huh?"

"Come here," she smiled. He did. "I think it's time to take this off now..." She carefully removed the purple prayer beads that had been around his neck for so long.

"Kagome?" he smiled. "Thanks."

He stared at the jewel. "Lady Kaede...what happens to the jewel once it has been used?" he asked out loud.

"Well, child...you saw how much power just the shards had. The power of the jewel never really dies out. Why do you ask?"

"I think I have an idea..." he smiled.

"Inuyasha!" growled Sango from the corner of the room. "You'd better not do anything stupid after we put our necks out on the chopping block like that! I'd have to kill you!"

"It's nothing like that," he smiled. "But I believe I want to talk to Kagome's family first."

Kagome blushed. "About what?" she demanded.

It had been two years since Kagome had first gone down the well into feudal Japan, and nearly five months since Kikyou snatched her out of her room. Kagome, however, was not as glad to return home as she thought she'd be. Going home meant leaving Inuyasha...

"We've done what we set out to do," Inuyasha was explaining to her family. Kagome was in a daze. "But there is something I want to request of you..."

Kagome looked up and into Inuyasha's eyes. What crazy ideas could he possibly have floating around in his head? She was suddenly more interested in the conversation.

Inuyasha took a deep breath. "I plan on using the jewel to..."

Oh no! Here it comes! My grandfather is going to have a stroke!

"To become full human." Inuyasha finished, and Kagome nearly fell out of her chair.

"And why, boy, are you telling us this?" asked her grandfather.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I wanted your permission to bring Kagome back with me. Lady Kaede is an old woman now...she will not be able to watch over the jewel for long. Nature has taken its course on her...and the village will need someone there..."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped. "I can not possibly take Lady Kaede's place! I'm not qualified for such a position!"

"I'd say you're more than qualified if you are willing," he smiled. "I have already spoken to Lady Kaede, and she believes this to be so..."

Kagome's mother blinked. "Back with you? To feudal Japan?" she gulped. "We'd have to come, too!"

Kagome's eyes bulged from her head. They were going to let her go back!

"Can we bring Buyo?" asked her little brother.

Inuyasha nodded.

Kagome and her family followed Inuyasha back down the well, taking the jewel with them. Later that very week, Inuyasha finally used the jewel to do as he'd promised. Lady Kaede, having lived to see Naraku finally destroyed, died later that year, passing her staff of responsibility on to Kagome.

Kagome's grandfather became fast friends with Miroku, who now had a daughter of his own. He seemed to loose his perverse nature after the birth of his daughter, whom Sango had insisted they name Kikyou. Little Kikyou made a fast playmate of the fox demon, Shippo, who came to live in the village shortly before the death of Lady Kaede.

Kagome's grandfather absorbed himself in his ever-constant pursuit of knowledge, quickly becoming a favorite among the village children for his wild stories.

"That forest has a great and mysterious history..." he would begin.

As for Sesshoumaru, he appeared every so often in the village, followed closely by the little girl Rin, who, if we should be frank, was not so little anymore. As the years passed, he seemed to have calmed down. The defeat of Naraku had released everyone of a huge threat, and lifted a huge weight off of the demon's shoulders.

It is safe to say, for those of us who will speculate on the matter, that everyone lived happily ever after. Naraku was gone, and with him, the swarms of demons after the jewel seemed to dissipate as well. Kagome, however, was always on her guard, lest the threat should ever return...

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A/N: Well, what can I say? That's the end and I hope you liked it. Kind of left it hanging open, didn't I...but don't expect a sequel from this particular story...I don't plan on making one. However, I do have another story I am working on (for those of you that care). As to this one, please review and let me know what you think!