Chapter 19- Meant To Be

Shippo grunted as he kept falling. What was going on?

Only Mai, InuYasha and Kagome could pass through the well. It finally stopped and Shippo climbed up to the top.

When he got to the top he gasped.

He was in the future!

Mai ran inside to her worried parents, embracing them both.

"Mai!" InuYasha whispered, holding his daughter tightly.

"Oh, Dad. I thought I'd never see you again. The well, it'll never be open again. I can't…go back." InuYasha and Kagome stared at their daughter, trembling slightly.

"Why?" Mai sniffed and held in a sob.

"I…I did a spell…to unbind the well. And…it came with a consequence, I had…to chose between you or…Shippo." Kagome gasped, InuYasha just kept staring at his daughter in disbelief. Mai continued.

"I couldn't leave you guys. I know your embarrassing…((InuYasha crossed his arms at this)), but you're my parents. I couldn't just never see you again. Me…and Shippo…it wasn't meant to be, I guess." Kagome smiled at her daughter and hugged her shoulders.

"Mai, a few years ago I could say the same thing about me and InuYasha. I guess I felt I was worthless to him. Kikyo was who he loved…not me." Kagome looked at the ground, recalling the time InuYasha had kissed Kikyo.

InuYasha came up to Kagome and kissed her.

"Damn it! Forget Kikyo! I love you Kagome, not her." Kagome smiled sadly.

"I love you too." The married couple hugged each other, making Mai's eyes water.

'What have I done? I'm never going to see Shippo again. Never going to hold him again. Never going to be with him…again' Mai freely let the burning hot tears fall from her golden eyes.

She touched the locket on her neck. That's all she had left of him. The last thing she could cling her memories onto. Mai silently remembered the first time she saw Shippo.

He had saved her life, and then been kind to her for no reason at all. She laughed as she remembered his teasing on her Ramen addiction.

"A lot of people like Ramen." She said to herself, giggling. Then she put her head in her hands.

"How can I live without him? I am sooo stupid." Mai whispered harshly. Shippo walked into the room looking around at it as though it were all a dream.

"No, Mai. Your not stupid." Mai's eyes widened. As well as InuYasha's and Kagome's.

"Shippo!" Mai cried, running into his arms.

"But…how?" Mai asked, laughing and swinging around in his arms.

"I don't know, but I don't think I can get back. But, don't you see Mai? This is a sign! We're supposed to be together!" InuYasha nodded stiffly, he still didn't like the fact that his daughter was growing up so fast.

Mai nodded and looked into Shippo's eyes. Just getting lost in them.

"Well, I guess we'd better leave you two alone." Kagome said cheerfully. Her and InuYasha left into the next room, holding hands and happy to have their daughter back.

Shippo laughed. "I guess I'm stuck here, huh?" Mai shrugged.

"Looks like it, doesn't it?" Shippo fiddled with his thumbs.

"Back there, in the past, when you said that we wouldn't work…you didn't mean it did you?" Mai shook her head, tearing up again.

"It was all a lie. I just wanted to make it easier but it just made it harder." Shippo took her chin in his hands and looked at her with all seriousness.

"Mai, I know were young, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Mai grinned widely.

"Shippo! I…Of course!" Shippo leaned down to kiss her but stopped with a start.

"What's that sound?" Mai giggled.

"That's just the T.V." Shippo looked at her blankly. Mai clasped Shippo's hand in her's.

"I guess your going to have to get used to the future like Dad had to." Shippo nodded, and the two burst into laughter.

They knew they'd be together for a long time.

THE END ((?))