Author's Notes: I'm thinking of making a song fic for "To Protect the One I Love" with all my favorite parts. I'll let everyone know when I post it cause it'll be chapter 32 in that series so unless you have me down on author alert you guys won't get it.
Unfamiliar SurroundingsAs they emerged from the well, Inuyasha steadied Kagome so she wouldn't fall back in…like he had before. "So what'll happen to you now?" Kagome asked.
Inuyasha shuffled his foot unsurely. This wouldn't be the last time he would see her, but for her this was goodbye. Digging into his haori again, Inuyasha brought out the pendant. "Here." He handed it to her.
"But your friend gave you that! I couldn't…" She protested.
"Please?" He wanted to be forceful, but for some reason, this was hard on him too. If Kagome wasn't okay in the next world, this really would be goodbye. When Kagome nodded, Inuyasha lifted it above her head and let it drape on her chest. "Whatever you do, don't lose that."
Without saying anything, Kagome threw her arms around Inuyasha's neck again and cried into his shoulders. "You're going to be leaving me aren't you?" Everyone I care about is leaving me…
At first Inuyasha was too shocked to say or so anything, but slowly he wrapped his arms around her in return. "It won't be forever. I promise. We'll meet again." He pulled her away and looked into her eyes. "Understand?"
Kagome nodded and held out her pinky.
"Eh?" Inuyasha looked at the finger curiously. "What is it? Is it cut?"
Smiling, Kagome shook her head. "It's a pinky swear. Give me your pinky."
Slowly Inuyasha looked at his own finger, before holding it out for her.
Kagome interlaced the two and stared at Inuyasha seriously. "This is a promise, made forever. Can't be broken, no not never. We agree!" Then she let go and Inuyasha still stared at his finger at a complete loss. "Now you can never break your promise or hair will grow out of your butt if you do!"
"What!?" She never told me she knew how to cast cursing spells! Inuyasha thought nervously.
Kagome laughed at his reaction and pointed a finger accusingly at him. "Just don't forget about me!" She said.
Inuyasha nodded and jumped to the top of the well again. "Trust me, I won't."
When he made ready to jump, Kagome shouted. "Wait!"
Sighing, Inuyasha turned around. "Now what!? Huh?" Inuyasha was shocked when Kagome jumped forward and planted a kiss right on the lips.
Moving away, Kagome blushed a deep red, but then so did Inuyasha. His emotions were always harder to control when he was in his human form. "Something to remember me by, just in case."
Inuyasha was still blushing when he smiled and nodded, finally jumping into the portal that connected to his own world and his own time.
Kagome watched as the well glow pretty blue and died down to nothing. Looking down at her pendant, the only evidence that Inuyasha was ever with her, and clasped it tightly. "I'll never let you go." But it was unsure if she meant the pendant, or the silver haired hanyou that had so captured her heart.
While in the void of time and space, Inuyasha felt a flicker of darkness rush past his senses, but brushed it off.
When Inuyasha reemerged from the well, he was relieved to see he was back to his usual form, silver hair and all. "I hated being a kid then and I still hate it!" Just to test out whether he had his abilities back or not, Inuyasha released a Sankon Tessou on a nearby tree and was satisfied when it split in half.
It was when he began jumping through the forest towards the battlefield where he'd left his precious Kagome, that he noticed the forest had a different smell to it. "It reeks of… death." He said to himself.
Slowly the forest around him turned from lush green to a sickly yellow. The earth itself seemed to be dying. "What the hell happened while I was away?" He wondered.
He reached the field where Kagome had been crystallized and had to stop dead in his tracks at the sight. Where there had once been a flat, dirt covered plain, now stood a large temple or shrine. It was blue and had large windows on the side "Wha? When did they put that thing there?"
Approaching it slowly, Inuyasha noticed there were two large oni with pikes guarding the doors that lead into the temple. "Oi? What is this thing? Where's Kagome?" He wondered. Maybe Miroku had her moved to a safer location.
Seeing the hanyou appear, both demons aimed their pikes at Inuyasha, warning him away. "What do you want with Kagome-sama!?"
"No one is allowed inside!" The other said.
Narrowing his eyes, Inuyasha lowered his head to make his next words perfectly clear. "I have to see Kagome and I have to see her now."
"And I'm telling you no one is allowed in." The first demon said again.
Just then the doors opened and out came Miroku, dressed just as Inuyasha remembered, but his features seemed to have aged a little. "Let him in."
When the demons saw the monk, they bowed and parted. "Hai, Miroku-sama."
Inuyasha looked at Miroku strangely. "Miroku, what happened to you?"
Glaring at the hanyou, Miroku replied darkly. "After what you've done, you think you can return and act as if nothing's happened?"
Taken aback by Miroku's attitude, Inuyasha got angry. "What the hell is it with everyone? I have been through hell and back and this is the thanks I get?"
"Did you ever think of coming back and telling us where you disappeared to? For us to have waited ten years without any word…"
"Wait. What did you say?" Inuyasha couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Ten years!?"
Miroku nodded. "Since that day you went up to Amaterasu's mountain, since the day Kagome…well, it's been rough for everyone."
"But I was only gone for two days!" He protested. But wait…that dark feeling I had earlier…Could it be…? "What's happened to Yamatsu since I've been gone?"
Crossing his arms, Miroku replied, "Sesshoumaru and Rin have chased him around this entire time, but he's done a good job of hiding himself. He's been able to build an entire army of demons that are loyal to him, and with them he's taken over most of the provinces and villages. He either gets them to swear loyalty to him, in which case they give over a greater portion of their supplies to support his army, or he burns their homes to the ground. Sango and Kohaku are watching over the refugees…"
"Kohaku?" Inuyasha questioned.
Again the monk nodded, still obviously upset from the hanyou's absence. "Our son." There was still a hint of pride in his voice.
"What about Shaoran and Shiori?" The hanyou asked.
Lowering his head, Miroku stared into Inuyasha's golden eyes with his dark blue ones. "I managed to keep them with me for a few years, but Shaoran couldn't sit still while Yamatsu went around destroying everything. He went off to try and stop him on his own. Shiori, not knowing where you were, went in search of you, while I stayed here protecting Kagome-sama." Sensing no ill will in Inuyasha's aura, Miroku asked. "Were you really only gone for two days?"
"Yes! I'll explain everything later! Where's Kagome!?" Inuyasha pushed past Miroku and rushed into the temple.
The doors opened into a large room and at the end of the path was Kagome, just as he had left her. "Ten years?" Inuyasha wondered. First Naraku takes fifty years from my life, now another ten is lost to the Fates because of his son…when will all this end?
Miroku joined him by his side. "The demons Kagome-sama saved that day have swore their lives to protecting her."
Nodding, Inuyasha walked up to the foot of the crystallized statue. Looking to her neck, he couldn't see the pendant. "Where is it?" He asked. Wait, could she have possibly lost it? Not having it now to save her? "Dammit!" He punched the base of the statue in anger. Everything he'd done…and for what? Ten years of his life sacrificed and now this?
The doors to the shrine opened again and in came a woman who resembled Kagome, but two black ears adorned her head. "Uncle Miroku! The guards outside said that Inuyasha has…" She stopped when she saw the red haori and long silver hair. "Daddy?"
Turning at the sound of his voice, Inuyasha was speechless. "Shiori?"
Running up to him, she wrapped him up in a hug. "Daddy! I knew you'd come back!" Tears fell from her eyes as she held Inuyasha tightly. "I never gave up hope!" Her appearance had drastically changed during the ten years. She wore a short sleeved, slightly tore up blue shirt and cut off black pants. On her hips were two round chakrams (sp?) and on her back, just like her mother, was a quiver of arrows and a long bow.
Miroku smiled at the reunion when he felt something behind him. Looking up at Kagome, he saw a strange pendant appear around her neck. "Inuyasha!"
Spinning around, Inuyasha saw the pendant materialize. "The changes I made to the past must be finally catching up!" He ran up to Kagome and dared to hope. "Come on…come on…"
Just as soon as it had manifested itself, the pendant began to glow and before the three present, the crystal around Kagome began to disappear.
"Mom! She's returning to normal!" Shiori exclaimed happily.
As the crystal disappeared completely, Kagome slowly opened her eyes and smiled at Inuyasha. "I knew you'd keep your promise."
Laughing with joy, Inuyasha picked her up and spun her around. Shiori ran forward and joined in the celebration.
Miroku, though happy, knew some things weren't adding up. "I think we should talk." He said to Inuyasha.
The hanyou put Kagome down and nodded. "Yeah, seems that creep Yamatsu really screwed things up while I was gone."
After a very long explanation, everyone in the room was silent.
"Yamatsu must've been able to sense your return and make it so you didn't return at the right time." Miroku concluded.
"But if it's the Goddess Amaterasu who sent me, then his powers are far more powerful than when I left." Inuyasha was worried. Somewhere out there his son was trying to fight Yamatsu alone and that was bad.
Getting to his feet, Inuyasha started to leave.
Kagome got up too and called out after him. "Inuyasha? Where are you going?"
Looking down at the ground guiltily, the hanyou replied. "Shaoran's out there and if Yamatsu gets his wish, our son's going to be his next victim. I've been gone for too long and it's my fault he's taken it upon himself to fight this war."
"I'm going with you!" Kagome protested.
"No way!" Inuyasha spun around. "It's safer for you here. If Yamatsu thinks you're not a threat to him, let him continue thinking so."
"But you need me!" She insisted.
Shiori nodded in agreement. "Besides, if he can sense you returning through that well, then there's a good chance that he senses Mother's regeneration too."
Miroku stood up finally. "I suggest we head to the refugee camp and talk with Sango first. Any of Yamatsu's recent moves will be reported to her."
Sighing, Inuyasha saw he wasn't going to win this one and considering the fact that they were all willing to fight by his side after being gone so long, he should be grateful. "All right. Let's go."
Shiori jumped for joy and ran to the doors of the temple. "Hey dad! Race ya!"
Never having been able to pass up a challenge, Inuyasha took off after his daughter. "You're on!"
Miroku sighed and thought aloud. "I wonder if I should tell him about Kouga."
Kagome frowned and turned to the monk. "Eh?"
Shaking his head, Miroku began leaving the temple. "No, that's a problem for another day."
Shaoran, now looking the age of about seventeen, wore his now long hair back in a ponytail at the base of his neck and a black bandana kept his bangs out of his eyes. He wore a no sleeve red shirt and long black pants. He wore a sword at his side and a dagger on the other side, mostly as a backup.
He crouched at the top of the cliff and looked down at the clearing below. To anyone else it would seem like a big open space and if one were to walk through it, they'd come out the other side. But to Shaoran's second sight, he could see the purplish black barrier that acted as the cloak around Yamatsu's campground.
That was why no one could ever find the demon's camp. Shaoran could always try and break it, but he doubted he'd be able to. If only mom were still around…her purity arrows would be perfect about now. His Uncle Miroku had told him dozens of stories of Kagome and Inuyasha's battle against Yamatsu's predecessor Naraku. Of his detachments and how Inuyasha always made his blade stronger by defeating other demons and absorbing their powers.
But his blade was no Tetsusaiga, so he had no such abilities. Dammit! And right when I'm so close!
Just then Shaoran heard rustling behind him and spun around to see Yamatsu himself with two of his demon generals at his side. He brought forth his sword, but already two weapons were aimed at his throat.
"It's death either way, be it by my hand or off the cliff." Yamatsu smirked in victory. "You have eluded my forces for a long time, young one. But your luck has finally run out."
Gritting his teeth, Shaoran wanted to fight, but also knew he'd have a better chance escaping when they weren't expecting it. Leave now and fight another day. He had been forced to do that once, before this whole mess started and he would have to do it again. Tossing his sword to the ground, along with his dagger, Shaoran held up his hands and glared at Yamatsu, but said nothing.
"Good choice." Yamatsu motioned for his generals to take the hanyou captive and turned to hide his smile. Now when that stupid Inuyasha comes, I will have the upper hand. Oh yes, he knew a confrontation was brewing and he was going to be well prepared for it.
Sango flew over the encampment with Kirara as she finished her rounds. There was no telling when Yamatsu's forces might find out where they were.
Just then Kirara's growl brought forth Sango's attention and she looked over to see a flash of red in between the trees. "Let's go! Kirara!"
The fire cat lowered down and they landed in an attempted to cut off the intruders. Sango brought out her hiraikotsu and Kirara got ready to pounce.
Out of the shadows came a group she hadn't expected to see. "Shiori! Kagome-chan and Miroku!" Then she saw Inuyasha and she narrowed her eyes in hatred. "And Inuyasha!" Without warning, she released hiraikotsu in his direction and Inuyasha had to dodged to the side before the youkai bone boomerang tore up the ground next to him.
"Wait Aunt Sango! It's okay! Don't attack him!" Shiori exclaimed.
"What do you mean everything's okay!?" The taijiya brought out her short sword.
"What she means to say is it wasn't Inuyasha's fault that he was gone for so long." Miroku walked up to his wife and slowly lowered her blade hand. "I'll explain everything to you."
"Mom! I heard a noise! Are you okay!?" Riding a large gray wolf came a boy just older than nine years. His brown eyes and black hair instantly reminded Inuyasha of Sango's little brother. The sickle and chain in his hands made it undeniable. "Kohaku!?"
Kagome gasped upon seeing the child as well. "It can't be!"
When the boy skidded to a halt and jumped off the beast, Miroku raised his staff in front of Inuyasha. "Kohaku, it's all right. Inuyasha has returned, along with Kagome-sama."
"Inuyasha? The hanyou that abandoned us?" Kohaku asked bitterly.
Inuyasha wanted to say something, but withheld a growl instead.
"I believe we all need to have another talk." Kagome said with a sigh. So much time had been lost. It would be hard getting everyone together, but it was a start.