Chapter One:

A crisp wind blew in from the north, rustling the branches on the sacred Goshinboku and waking the seemingly peaceful hanyou from his sleep. Cracking his back loudly in an almost cartoon-ish manner, Inuyasha took in the sight of the still sleeping Shippou on his stomach. Trying not to wake the pup, Inuyasha tried to smoothly crawl out from beneath the kitsune. Too late.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Can we go visit Kagome today? Pllleeeaaassseee!" The childish fox demon jumped in pure ecstasy. As it turned out, with the wish that Inuyasha made it was truly possible for anyone to visit Kagome's time. They had each taken their fare share of trips, visiting the sites and meeting her family. Luckily, no other youkai new of the well so no problems had occurred. Yet.

"I don't know, Shippou." Inuyasha answered with a stern voice while attempting to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Maybe tomorrow, I'm not really in the mood today."

"Oh, come on!" Now he was just being immature. "Please, Inuyasha!"

"No! Now will you shut up!" Several birds in the surrounding trees retreated to the skies at Inuyasha's loud shout of anger. A pained expression fell over the small demons face and Inuyasha instantly felt guilty. "I'm sorry, Shippou. I didn't mean to yell at you, I'm just tired, that's all."

"You don't have to feel sorry for me! I could easily kick your ass!" Shippou raised his fists in a fighting stance in a pathetic attempt to seem tough.

"Feh," Inuyasha laughed and rolled his eyes. "Oh really, punk?"

"You better believe it!" Poor kid. Inuyasha was just about to pummel the small kitsune when Miroku and Sango flew down on Kirara's back. They landed just bellow Goshinboku and gave them a knowing smile, saving the kitsune from yet another one of Inuyasha's not-so-playful punches.

Two months ago, the slayer and the monk decided to 'step their relationship up a notch'. They evolved into this loving couple that resembled something out of an old John Hues movie. Although he would never really admit it, Inuyasha loved to see them together. He would gag and make noises when they kissed and protested the idea of 'being a couple', but everyone knew how he really felt. They all knew his true feelings after he confessed his love for Kagome in front of the group, making it hard to put up a strong front.

For a long time, he actually saw it coming. They were always sneaking off and whispering to each other, as if they had some important secret that only they could unlock. Inuyasha, on several occasions, would catch Miroku staring at Sango when he thought that no one was looking. This was nothing new to the hanyou, and he passed it off as another perverted plot of the delinquent monk's. After all, the low level "monk" was a diagnosed lecher. But there seemed to be a spark between them, some magical connection that sizzled in the air each time their eyes made contact.

And so there they were, sitting on the back of the fully transformed fire-neko youkai, holding hands, and smiling like the loving couple that they were.

"We have good news, boys!" Sango called from the ground, taking that mothering tone she occasionally gets while staring up at the massive tree where Shippou and Inuyasha sat. "Come down here and I'll tell you what it is!" Shippou quickly jumped from his spot on the branch and landed with grace on Sango's shoulder. Inuyasha, however, stayed up in the tree and turned his head the other way, pretending not to be interested.

"Well, somebody's hasn't changed one bit." Miroku commented under his breath with a slight smile and Sango firmly planted and elbow in his side. "Ouch!"

"Are you guys getting married?" Shippou asked innocently, changing the conversation back to the original subject. Both Sango and Miroku's faces turned red with embarrassment.

"No, Shippou, we're not getting married." The monk answered after taking a large gulp to erase the lump in his throat.

"You mean we're never getting married!" Dammit. Miroku looked around frantically for an answer but found none.

"No-that's not what I meant. I…uhm…only meant not right now. You understand, right?" He covered not so smoothly.

"Save it, Miroku." There was a moment of heated silence as Miroku hung his head in shame. From the top of the tree Inuyasha silently chuckled at the antics of the two young lovers.

"So what's the news?" Inuyasha demanded, obviously getting annoyed with the bickering. "And make it fast, I've got work to get back to."

"Sure, I bet you were just sleeping again." Sango stated calmly. Inuyasha was about to protest when she continued. "We're going on a nice, relaxing vacation up to the mountains."

"Really? When?"

"You're not coming, Inuyasha." The monk spoke up. "Sango and I will be going up a small cabin to…have some time off from our stressful day jobs. I do hope you understand."

"Can I come, guys?" Shippou begged from his spot atop Sango's shoulder. "I can keep Kirara company! And anything is better than being stuck with HIM!" Shippou threw a not-so-subtle thumb over his shoulder, pointing accusingly at the already agitated hanyou.

"Well, I guess you could tag along." The slayer answered. "You don't mind, do you Miroku?"

"What do you think!" He asked exasperated, throwing his hands in the air like a child trying to make a point. Then he dropped his voice and whispered in Sango's ear. "But Sango, we'll be doing…you know…stuff." His whispering didn't work out to well, for both Inuyasha and Shippou heard what he said with their demonic ears.

"No, I don't know, monk. Please, be a dear, and remind me?" The gang stared at Miroku expectantly, waiting for whatever lame answer he would give.

"I…uh, you know…we'll be…" His face turned beet red and burned with the fire of a thousand flames. "Cooking!"

"Fine! Whatever!" Inuyasha yelled in annoyance, throwing his hands up and turning his head in mock-anger. "I know when I'm not wanted, this isn't the first time, after all. You guys go off and have a fun little 'vacation' and I'll just sit here all by myself and rot."

"Why don't you go visit Kagome? I bet she'd love to see you." Sango suggested sweetly, giving the hanyou a bright smile.

"I can't. She said that there was some kind of big test that she had to study for."

"But I thought that they didn't have school in the future during these warm months?" The monk pondered.

"That's what I thought, too!" He sighed. "Apparently she has to go to a summer school class to make up all of the days that I kept her here." 'I actually feel a bit guilty about that', Inuyasha thought to himself.

"That doesn't mean you can't go visit her." The monk answered with a broad smile, he was desperately trying to get the hanyou out of his hair. "I bother Sango while she's working all the time!"

"But I don't want to bother her. Isn't that rude?" Inuyasha didn't know the first thing about what offended girls, and lately he had been really concerned about getting on Kagome's bad side.

"You, Inuyasha, the dreaded hanyou, defeater of Naraku, are worried about bothering Kagome?" Sango laughed playfully. "Even when Miroku interrupts me when I'm making new weapons or doing some work in the village, I'm still happy to see him."

"I still don't know. The last time I interrupted Kagome while she was studying I got yelled at for an entire week…" Inuyasha paused for a moment, thinking over his options. "You know, you're right! I'm going to go visit Kagome right now!" He jumped down from his spot on the branch but paused beside his friends.

"Now that's the spirit! Go romance the girl, Inuyasha!" Miroku winked.

"Are you guys going to take Shippou with you?"

"Sure, it's no burden on us." Sango answered, cradling the kitsune tight in her arms. "Now go!" Inuyasha gave a thankful nod, allowing a slight smile to curve up in the corner of his mouth, and ran off towards the Bone Eater's Well with a bounce in his step.

Inuyasha raced off in the direction of the well with only one thing on his mind: he had to get to Kagome. He had just seen her three days ago before she left to study, but he felt as if an eternity had passed. He loved her more than he could ever even put into words.

Kikyou, he had thought, was the only love of his life; the only one that held the key to his heart. For months he dwelled on her death, drowning deeper and deeper into his own apathy. He swore to avenge her death, no matter what the cost was. He spent months traveling after Naraku, defeating hoard after hoard of demons in his path, but he never seemed to fill that empty place in his heart that Kikyou once filled. He wanted to run back to her and hold her in his arms, but she seemed to want nothing to do with him. He knew that this was because she was no longer the bearer of her own soul, she was just a walking corpse fueled by hatred and malice. And yet he still chased after her, never learning from his mistakes.

When Kagome saved his life and woke him from his eternal slumber, he arrogantly went on his way and ignored the reincarnated priestess. His ego was too proud to allow him to realize that his true love was right in front of him the entire time he continued his mission. Deep down he knew that there was a connection between him and the Miko, but he would never allow himself to admit it. In his mind, he was too tough for love. When he discovered his true feelings, he blamed on the fact that she was Kikyou's reincarnation, and that it was still Kikyou that he truly loved. He was blind, and in his mind, not worthy of the love of any other woman.

Inuyasha reached the base of the well in a matter of minutes. Just as he swung his leg over the edge and was about to jump in, he heard a slight rustle in the forest behind him. It was faint, but still there nonetheless. Sniffing the air with his canine nose, he immediately recognized the scent. It was Kikyou. He turned to look at her, a smile placed firmly on his lips.

"So this is what you wished for? For the well to stay open eternally?" She asked while staring blankly at the well. He didn't respond. "It's quite foolish if you ask me, but it was your decision, not mine."

"I want to thank you for helping out back there; I didn't get the chance to thank you before. I don't think we could've done it without you." She merely shrugged and continued to stare at the well, as if it was going to move or something. "So what are you going to do now?"

She thought for a minute before answering, "I think I'm going to return to the spirit world. After all, I am dead."

"Yeah." There was a long moment of silence as the just looked at each other with content. Kikyou was the first to speak up.

"I do wish you would fulfill your promise and join me in hell. But I know that you have dedicated your time to my reincarnation. I just wish things had been different between us." She paused as they both pondered her words. "Is that what you're doing now, going to visit her?"

"Yeah." He always felt awkward speaking about Kagome around her. It just felt wrong for some reason. Both still shared feelings for each other, but it was over now.

"Why, aren't you very monosyllabic today?" She teased with a warm smile; it was the first time Inuyasha could remember her smiling since she died. "What are you waiting for? Go see the girl!"

Inuyasha just stared at her in confusion for a moment, perplexed by her sudden change of attitude towards Kagome. He nodded his thanks and once again flipped a leg over the well's edge. Once more, he paused and looked back at his former lover.

"Thanks, Kikyou. I'll always love you, no matter what." And then her soul-stealing youkai lifted her off into the sky. "Kagome, here I come!"

A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! And PLEASE REVIEW!