Disclaimer: Don't ask, because I don't own it.

This is the last chapter folks. Enjoy it.

A Fortunate Accident

Chapter 5 – Fate's Sublime Plan

Night had fallen and Kagome and Sango returned to the Waldorf tiredly. Sango was in good spirits, thinking that she had truly convinced her friend to give up on the escapade. Kagome, however, was not so lighthearted. And although she knew her friend was right, she felt like she was giving up on something important.

The two women waited for the elevator patiently, neither speaking. Kagome found it an awkward silence, but Sango thought it a golden one compared to the bustling city. The elevator opened and a group of people walked out. Sango blinked in surprise.

"Kikyo?" She questioned. The woman turned at the sound of her name and looked amazedly at Sango.

" Oh my god, Sango! What a surprise to see you! It's been years!" She said, warmly embracing Sango. (A/N: WTF?)

"It's so nice to see you! What's it been, like eight or nine years, right?" Sango said excitedly. "Kagome, this is Kikyo Wantanabe. We were roommates in college." Kagome shook Kikyo's hand and replied with a pleasant 'hello'. "Kikyo, this is Kagome Higurashi. She's a good friend of mine from San Francisco."

Kikyo's parents stood behind her, and smiled pleasantly at the gathering.

"So why are you staying at the Waldorf?" Sango asked. Kikyo smiled bashfully.

"I'm getting married tomorrow," she said, showing her the ring. Sango gasped.

"Really? That's wonderful! Right here in this hotel?"

Kikyo nodded. "Yea, at noon. We're actually going to rehearsal right now, do want to come watch?"

"Really?" Sango asked, eyebrows raised. Kikyo nodded.

"Of course! You can bring your friend too if you want," She said, with a glance at Kagome.

"Thanks," Kagome said with a weak smile, "but I actually have to go upstairs and call my fiancé. He's probably expecting a call from me sometime soon." Sango looked at her friend regretfully. Kagome shook her head. "Don't worry Sango, don't feel bad about going without me. I really do need to call Koga. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

Sango nodded. Kagome waved goodbye as her friend followed Kikyo and her parents into the reception hall. Kagome wouldn't mind going, but she really wasn't in the mood for it. She felt tired, downhearted and most of all, remorseful.

As she made her way down the hallway to her hotel room, she saw a figure lying on the floor outside the door. She squinted and walked closer. It was a person. It was…Koga.

"….Koga? What-What are you doing?" She asked, walking to him concerned. "How did you know I was here?"

He sat up and looked at her mystically as usual. "Intuition."

She blinked. "Really?"

"No. I went through the New York hotel Guide, alphabetically in reverse, starting with the letter 'Z'" Kagome sighed and sat down next to him on the floor. "Kagome, I missed you so much. I don't blame you for running away. I mean, I was so focused on the album and the video, and I know that I didn't pay you as much attention as I should have…."

---Meanwhile, downstairs---

"I, Inuyasha, take you, Kikyo, to be my wife, and I promise to love and sustain you in the bond of marriage from this day forward…."

The wedding rehearsal was going well. That is, to everyone but Inuyasha. The priest droned on, but Inuyasha did not hear a word of what he said, even if it was directed towards himself. He looked around the room. Kikyo's parents smiled lovingly at him. So did his own parents. The wedding planners and musicians were smiling at him.

In the back of the room some unfamiliar woman was smiling at him, and he'd never seen her before….

He looked back to Kikyo, who looked unhappy.

"And of course, Inuyasha, you'll be looking at Kikyo. And that, of course is where the ceremony ends," the priest continued with announcements, which Inuyasha involuntarily drowned out as well.

"Hey, Inuyasha!" Miroku came running up. "We've got 6 amazing strippers waiting for us and we're late. We need to get to your bachelor party now."

"You mean Exotic Dancers," Kikyo corrected.

"No," Miroku shook his head, "Strippers."

"Alright," Kikyo sighed, "but before you take my fiancé away, Miroku, I'd like to speak with him." Miroku nodded and left the two alone.

"Oh, Sango!" Kikyo called, just as Sango was about to leave, "come here for a moment!" She turned to Inuyasha, "that's my old friend Sango. We were roommates in college."

"So this is the groom?" Sango said smiling, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Sango." She shook Inuyasha's hand.

"We'd love for you to come tomorrow," Kikyo said insistently, "and you can bring your friend. That would make us both very happy."

"Well," Sango said hesitantly, "alright. I'll talk it over with her and she what she thinks. She might want to get home to her own fiancé, if you know what I mean. But thank you so much, that's very nice of you. I'll see you both tomorrow at noon!"

When the reception hall was completely empty, Kikyo collapsed into a chair and heaved a heavy sigh. "What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked.

"It's you," she said dreadfully, her eyes beginning to tear up.

"What? What did I do?" He asked softly. She shook her head.

"Nothing exactly. It's just…you haven't been around for the past few days. I feel like I'm missing my better half!"

"Oh that's not true-" Inuyasha began, but Kikyo objected.

"Don't lie to me, Inuyasha." She sighed again. "Every since I was a little girl I've dreamed about my wedding day. The dress, the flowers, even the music that the band plays. And everything is perfect, except to my fiancé, who has indefinitely floated off into Never-Never-Land."

"Kikyo, I know I've been acting strangely the past few weeks, but it's just nervousness. I'm getting cold feet, that's all," he insisted earnestly.

"Well call me crazy, but I want my grooms feet to be warm, especially when were only hours away from going down the isle!" She cried, her lip trembling. She took a deep breath and began, more calmly, "whatever it is that you're holding onto…let it go."

Inuyasha hugged his fiancé tightly, stroking her soft hair. "I think it's already let go of me," he said finally.

"Oh!" She said suddenly, pulling away. She turned and grabbed a wrapped package.

"What's this?" Inuyasha asked, taking it from her.

"What's it look like? It's a groom's gift," Kikyo said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Inuyasha flinched. "I got yours, but I forgot it at home."

"It's okay, I know you did. Please, just open it," Kikyo said, patting his hand. So Inuyasha did. A sickening feeling touched his stomach when he opened it up and saw what it was she had gotten them.

It was a book. The very same book, in fact, that had been causing him trouble for nearly seven years. Love in the time of Cholera.

"It's first edition. I hope you like it. Every time we go into a bookstore, you're always paging through it. I checked this week, and you don't even have a copy…don't you like it?" Kikyo asked concernedly.

Inuyasha had taken his good time just staring at the cover. He slowly opened up the front cover to look, as he always did, for her name.

And there it was.

He could hardly believe his eyes as he saw her name, beautifully written, along with her phone number.

Kagome Higurashi.

So that was her name.

"It's perfect, Kikyo," he said delicately looking up at her, "it's a great choice."

And as he stepped out into the busyness of the hotel and into the taxi (where Miroku was waiting) he still felt as if it was surreal. That his lack of sleep (and sanity, for that matter) was beginning to trick him. He checked again. The name was still there.

He and Miroku rode in silence most of the way. Finally, Inuyasha sighed.

"Her name's Kagome Higurashi," he said tiredly.

Miroku blinked. "What?" Inuyasha handed him the book. Miroku stared at it in the same disbelief Inuyasha had a few minutes earlier. "Wha-How?"

"Kikyo gave it to me as a wedding gift," Inuyasha said in the same tone. Miroku sat still, continuing to look at the name. Inuyasha reached over into Miroku's coat pocket at got out his cell phone. Miroku grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

"Sally? Hi, It's Miroku. I need you to find me another address. The Name's Kagome Higurashi. K-A-G-O-M-E---H-I-G-U-R-A-S-H-I. Did you get that? Yes, I do have an old phone number-"

On the other side of the city, Kagome and Koga tried to have a romantic horse drawn carriage ride. It was not very romantic when Koga's ever so faithful agent, Ryan, called.

"Hey, can you pull over, I'm getting bad reception," Koga told the carriage driver. "Yea, I can hear you now. Good. What? We have to cancel Dusseldorf? Why? AND Stockholm? No way, it's not happening. I can't-"

Kagome jumped out of the carriage, no longer wishing to hear her fiancé talk to his agent, and once again rearrange her schedule. She walked across the bridge to view the skating rink, which had (of course) no ice. There were many roller skaters on the rink. She decided to walk down and watch them. She sat on a bench nearby and inwardly cried.

Koga eventually came to join her and sat down. "Look at the stars," he said, in awe. "They've all got names you know. I don't know any of them, of course. Wow, look at that one." He pointed to a constellation overhead. Kagome looked at it closely, then took off her jacket. She pulled up her shirt sleeve to look at the freckles on her arm.

"It's Hanyou," she said with an ironic tone, "the constellation, it's called Hanyou." Koga looked at her uncertainly, and then at her arm. He was marrying a strange woman…

Meanwhile, 29,00 feet in the air, Inuyasha questioned (for the millionth time) why he had allowed Miroku to convince him to get on a plane for San Francisco.

"You know," Inuyasha said matter-of-factly, "if our return flight is more than a 10 minute delay, I miss my own wedding. Does that bother you at all?"

Miroku shook his head and laughed, "You are a jackass."

"Well, thank you. I always appreciate a compliment," Inuyasha said sarcastically.

"You are. You're my hero, you know that? You're like…my oracle and all that shit. You're out there and making it happen. Courtney and I broke it off."

Inuyasha looked at him in complete shock. "You're serious? After two years of not looking at another woman, you guys break up, just like that?" Miroku nodded sadly.

"We've been fighting for a really long time. I didn't want to ruin your wedding and rain on your parade. That's why I didn't tell you. It was your day. I would never want to ruin it."

Inuyasha was still incredibly confused. "Well what they hell happened?"

"We just-you know, we let it slip away. We let it die. It died," Miroku said with a horrid sigh.

"Well what was the cause of death?" Inuyasha asked frenetically.

"We didn't have enough of this," Miroku said, holding up the book. "And not enough…you know? Do you remember the philosopher Epictetus? Do you remember what he said? He said 'If you want to improve, be content with being thought foolish and stupid'. And that's what you've done!"

"Well, I work hard at it," Inuyasha said with a shrug.

"Now I want to be a jackass," Miroku said insistently, "You know? You're the shit!"

A guy from across the isle looked up from his laptop computer quizzically, thinking they had referred to him.

"That would be me," Inuyasha explained, pointing to himself, "the shit."

"Yea, he's the shit."

They pulled up in the driveway very quietly. Although time difference had saved them a few hours in California, it was still late at night. Miroku got out of the car first, to check if anyone was home. As he approached, he peeked through the large window. He gasped at the sight.

What he saw was a man and a woman, dancing around in the living room with a beer in hand. He winced. Not good. What he did not know, of course, is that the occupants were Kagome's younger brother Souta and his girlfriend Mayu.

Inuyasha took a deep breath and got out of the car. Miroku bit his lip and said apprehensively, "You know, buddy, I think it's bad idea to just barge in. I think you should call first."

"Why?" Inuyasha asked quizzically, "we're already here, Miroku. Now move."

"Well, you never know, she might be busy or need to clean up or something," Miroku objected, continuing to push Inuyasha back.

"I don't care how clean her house is!" Inuyasha said angrily, pushing Miroku fully out of the way.

"She might! She might! Don't do it, I cannot let you look! I cannot let you look!" Miroku said frantically, trying to pull Inuyasha back.

"What do you mean? You told me to come! You told me I was your hero!" Inuyasha yelled, forcefully pushing Miroku away. Miroku stumbled up from the ground and grabbed Inuyasha's leg.

"No, you can't go! Don't do it! I don't want you to get hurt! Don't get hurt!" He yelled as Inuyasha walked, dragged him across the ground. Inuyasha stopped as he saw the action played out inside the house. He looked down at an apologetic Miroku.

No words were spoken.

Sighing, he lay down on the ground next to his exhausted friend.

"Well…that went well," he said finally.

Miroku turned to Inuyasha. "Didn't she say that everything happens for a reason?" Inuyasha nodded in reply. "Well, them maybe you're laying here because you don't want to be standing somewhere else."

"So are you getting ready?" Kagome asked, tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear. She had decided to go home, back to San Fran, while Sango had ultimately decided to stay for the wedding.

"Yea, you know I always love a good wedding," Sango said with a laugh on the other line. "So did you talk to Koga?"

"Yea," Kagome said quietly, "We talked this morning before he left. I think he'll be alright, at least I hope so."

"He'll be fine, Kagome, and so will you. You're strong," Sango said, almost solemnly.

"Yea?" Kagome said, a faint smile on her face. She looked up. "Oh, Sango, you know what? There's a flight attendant glaring at me, I don't think I'm supposed to be on the phone. We won't take off for quite a while yet because of the delay, but I'll call you when I get back." She and Sango said their goodbyes and hung up.

"We're going to start the movie right now," the flight attendant said, "would you like some headphones?"

Kagome nodded and went into her purse. When she grabbed her wallet and opened it up, she gasped. "Oh no!" She looked up at the flight attendant. "This isn't mine, it's my friends! We much have switched wallets. See, there's her driver's licenses."

"…Is there any money in it?"

Kagome nodded and handed her a 5-dollar bill. As the flight attendant put it in her money pouch, Kagome noticed there was something written on the back.

A Name. A very familiar name.

"Wait a second!" Kagome said, snatching the money from the flight attendant. She looked at the back, and sure enough it was the dollar bill she had sent into the world years ago.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, laughing, "that's your name." The flight attendant frowned at her and tried to snatch the bill back. Kagome grabbed her bags and pushed passed to get off the plane. She left the airport in a hurry and called information.

"Hello, I need the address for an Inuyasha Taisho. T-A-I-S-H-O. Alright, thank you." She hung up. "Can you please take me to 24 Charles street?" She asked the cab driver. She giggled foolishly on her way there, holding the black cashmere glove in her hand.

She got out of the cab outside the building. There was a group of people sitting on the doorstep, so she went to them. "Excuse me, does an Inuyasha Taisho live here?" She asked.

"Oh, you must be late," one maid said with a nod. Kagome blinked in confusion.

"Late for what?"

"Why, the wedding of course. At the Waldorf-Astoria. In fact, he may be married already by now."

Kagome thanked him and whirled around to get back into the cab. "Take me to the Waldorf, and hurry!" She said frantically.

She rushed inside the building and ran to the reception hall, where the wedding was to take place. She burst through the doors and yelled "STOP!"

"…Stop?" A janitor, who was stacking chairs looked at her in confusion.

She was breathing heavily. "Is it over?" She asked, dreading the answer.

"The wedding? Yea," the janitor said with a small laugh, "it's over."

Kagome felt internal defeat as she hugged the glove close to her face and let a tear slide down her cheek. She was too late. He was gone forever now. She turned to leave when she heard the janitor speak again.

"But don't worry, you'll get your present back."

"Excuse me?" She asked, confused.

"They always return the presents," he explained with a nod, still piling up chairs. She continued to stare at him blankly. "You asked if it was over. Truth is, it never began. They called it off this morning."

"They called it off?" Kagome said shakily. Tears began to fall freely. She covered a horribly selfish smile with her hand. "That's terrible," she said sniffing.

"Were you a friend of the bride," the janitor began, "…or the groom?"

She was gone.

"What's up with this weather? It's supposed to be spring," Inuyasha muttered disdainfully.

"Alright, so what kind of pep talk do you want?" Miroku asked.

"Well what do you have?" Inuyasha asked, mused.

"I've got all kinds. There's the inspirational "You can achieve anything you dream about" talk, but I don't think now's the time, although it is very popular these days. And then there's the "More fish in the Sea" pep, but that's no good either. Oh, and the traditional: "When god closes a door, he opens a window."

"How about telling me that I did the write thing?" Inuyasha asked.

"I don't have to tell you," Miroku said, opening his wallet, "I wrote it."

"What's this?" Inuyasha asked, taking the paper from him.

"It's your obituary. I was having problems with your best man speech, and that's what came out. Blame it on the day job," Miroku laughed and stopped at a flower vendor to get a dozen roses. He gave the man a twenty.

"Are you going to see Courtney?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku shook his head.

"Nope. We're done. Turns out she was cheating on me. Has been for a while now, so I guess it's over," he said causally. Inuyasha slapped himself mentally.

"Then who are you going to see?" He asked.

"You know that girl that came to the rehearsal last night, that friend of Kikyo's? The one with really beautiful eyes and a great ass?" Miroku asked.

"Yea, Sango or something?" Inuyasha replied vaguely. Miroku nodded.

"Yes, that's it. I've got to start my own 'soul mate' mission." He smiled seductively. "So how do I look?"

Inuyasha smiled and said in a low tone, "Like a jackass." He patted his friend on the shoulder. "Good luck."

As he walked, he unfolded his "obituary" and read it softly to himself.

Inuyasha Taisho, outstanding television producer for ESPN, died last night from complications of losing his soul mate and his fiancé. He was 35 years old, obsessive and opinionated. Taisho never looked the part of a hopeless romantic. But in the final days in his life, he revealed an unknown side of himself. This hidden quasi-Jungian persona surfaced during the Agatha Christie-like pursuit for his long-reputed soul mate, a woman whom he only spent a few precious hours with. Sadly, the protracted search ending late Saturday evening in complete and utter failure. Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Taisho clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of accidents and coincidence, but rather a web of events, woven together to create an exquisite, sublime plan. When asked about the loss of his dear friend, Miroku Kanzana, he described Inuyasha as a changed person, to the very last day of his life. "Things were clearer for him," Kanzana noted. Ultimately, this great man concluded that if we are to live at peace with the universe, we must all posses a faith in what ancient civilizations called "fatum", which is commonly known today as-

"Destiny," Inuyasha read, finishing the letter. He smiled briefly, and folded it up in his pocket.

"So what are you going to do?" Sango asked, getting into the cab.

"I don't know," Kagome said finally. "I guess I'm just going to try finding him. By the way, you still haven't told me where you're going."

"Well, last night I got to talking with one of the groom's men at the rehearsal," Sango smiled sheepishly, "he asked me to dinner."

Kagome opened her mouth in surprise, then smiled as she saw Sango's girlish face. "Alright, have fun and play nice. Don't wake me up if I'm already sleeping," Kagome said. Sango nodded in agreement.

"Alright. I'll have fun. Put a jacket on, okay Kagome? It's freezing outside," Sango said with a shiver as the cab pulled away. Kagome waved goodbye. She herself shivered as the wind brushed by, forcing her raven hair to block her vision. She thought back to where she had left her coat…

Inuyasha sat on the bench at the skating rink. He thought it Ironic that as he walked he had found his way here unintentionally. Fate was a terrible, wonderful thing. He looked to a stray brown jacket that sat on the bench next to him. He picked it up and looked for a name anywhere. He had no luck.

There was no one left of the skating rink.

With a smile he went out and stood in the middle. He closed his eyes and imagined for a moment that Kagome was there with him, instead of in San Francisco with that other guy in her living room.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed the small white flakes that fell from the sky.

Snow.

He smiled wistfully and lay down flat on his back, the jacket beneath his head for a pillow. He sighed and watched the snowfall come down on him.

So much for spring.

He put his hand in his pocket and reached for the black glove, which he carried around with him these days.

As he watched the snow, a above him, he saw a black figure waving along in the wind, softly falling towards him. It fell down delicately on his chest. He picked it up and looked at it. It was a glove.

He blinked. The other glove was in his hand. He pulled the two together and compared them.

They were the same.

Slowly, he turned his head to look, in hope for what he wanted. Nothing could describe the feeling of euphoria as he saw her standing there, an awkward smile upon her face. He stood up immediately, also awkward.

She walked towards him shyly, like a little girl approaching a boy she liked, in this case, she could relate to. He stood still in disbelief, watching her.

She hadn't changed in the seven years that had passed. She was just as beautiful. He smiled and walked closer to her. They stood there for a long time, not saying or doing anything.

He stuck out his hand and said, introducing himself, "I'm Inuyasha."

She took his hand lightly and shook it. "I'm Kagome."

The two of them laughed lightly, knowing that the other had gone through quite a bit to get to where they were right now.

So the two of them, giving themselves utterly to fate, leaned in and kissed for the very first time.

---1 year later---

December 20th…again. Here in New York City at Bloomingdale's, it was busy as always. But Inuyasha and Kagome were far too wrapped up in themselves to notice that.

Inuyasha leaned in and kissed her gently. "Happy Anniversary," he said with a smile.

"Now tell me, when did you get to be so helplessly romantic?" She teased. He shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it that. There's nothing wrong with returning to the scene of the crime every year to buy a new pair of gloves. Tradition's not bad." He pulled the cork out of a bottle of wine and poured it into two plastic cups. (A/N: Smooth Inuyasha….) "Cheers," he said as they clinked their glasses.

Suddenly a clerk popped up from behind the counter. "I'm sorry, but you cannot have any food or beverage anywhere in the store, especially those with alcohol. You'll have to wait until you are completely out of the store to do so." Inuyasha stared at the clerk.

"Wait, a minute! It's you, Hojo. Do you remember me?" Inuyasha asked.

Hojo nodded.

"This is the girl," Inuyasha said pointing to Kagome. She waved hello timidly, but she knew the story well.

"Ah, Miss Carbon copy," Hojo said with a nod, "It's nice to meet you. Are you folks going to buy anything, or just stand around and drink in our store?"

"Yes, we would like to purchase a pair of black cashmere gloves-" Inuyasha was cut off by a loud bell sounding.

"Oh, that's the bell. The store is closing. You may come back tomorrow from 10:00 – 7:00 as every day, except Sundays and holidays," Hojo said, placing a cover across the objects on the counter.

"Oh, couldn't you please-" Kagome objected, nearing the end of the counter.

"Do not cross the line! Please stay on the other side of the counter! This is for authorized personnel only, so please stay on this side of the counter. Thank you."

Lola: Wow what an ending. And this story is only about 50 pages. It's pretty short. I hope you guys liked it. I tried hard not to copy the script word for word, but some phrases were just weren't re-phrasable. I hope you all liked it. Please don't forget to review!