Chapter One
Standing at the well, age 18, Kagome looked back at her friends. Miroku, the lecherous priest, arm around Sango, with little Shippo on his shoulder, afternoon sun behind them. And Inu Yasha…
"Are you sure, Inu Yasha?" She asked, one last time, turning to him beside her. Inu Yasha looked down at his love and gave her a small smile.
"As sure as I'll ever be when it comes to this. Besides, who else would be there to protect you? Hojo, that weak little human?" Kagome looked down and took his hand in hers, feeling courage fill her up again. His touch did that to her.
Looking at her friends again, she saw Sango give her a sad smile of farewell. Miroku's arm tightened around her, and Shippo was now openly crying. Tears came to Kagome's eyes.
"Guys… I'll never forget you. You all will be in my heart forever. I'll miss you all so much!" Kagome turned and buried her face in Inu Yasha's chest, sobbing. Inu Yasha wrapped his arms around her tightly, and let the image of his friends burn into his mind.
Lifting Kagome, he jumped and perched on the edge of the well, taking one more look at the time he was leaving.
"Goodbye… My friends." With that he took one step, and let himself drop into the well.
On the other side, Inu Yasha let go gently of Kagome. Wiping tears from her eyes, she looked back at the well. It wouldn't work now, she knew this. Even if it did, she would not go through it again. It would be too hard. The quest was over, the jewel reconstructed. She was not meant to be there.
But she would never watch Shippo grow into a young man demon. She would never know how many children Miroku and Sango would bear. Knowing Miroku, he would probably father as many as ten. She would not be at Kaede's funeral, the old priestess who had taught her so much. Kaede had not been able to come to her leave-taking, for a woman was giving birth, and complications had arisen.
And knowing that that child, if it was born alive, had already lived and died. Miroku, Sango, at least three generations of their children… were dead. Buried.
It was just too much for Kagome right then. Tears fell, unchecked.
It killed Inu Yasha to let those tears fall. He felt the same way. As if a part of him had been ripped away. His friends, his only friends… They were gone from him forever.
But he knew he had made the right decision. There was no way he would have let Kagome go back to her time alone. He loved her. He wanted to be with her for all his life and have pups. Kagome came into his arms again and he crushed her to him. They needed this… These tears. For he was crying himself.
They stayed that way for hours and resting against the well on the ground, continued. Kagome fell into the uneasy rest of those who had left behind someone dear, and Inu Yasha watched over her. Even until the light of dawn reached through the cracks of the well shrine, he protected her.
Eventually, Kagome's reddened brown eyes opened and stared into his tearstained face. Realizing that this was reality and everything that entailed, she hugged him tightly. Standing them both up, Inu Yasha pulled away from her.
"The time for mourning is over. They will always be with us. We must go on and you must show me this strange world that I will be living in. Let's go. I'm ready for this. A new adventure."
Nodding, she took his hand and led him up the stairs. Opening the door she squinted into the sun. Outside now, she turned, taking one last look into the darkened well shrine. Closing it tightly, she took a padlock from her pocket, and latched it on to the door. With one twist of the key, she locked that part of her life away forever.
"I can't see through the windshield! Stick your head out the window and tell me what you see, Inu Yasha." A few minutes later his head popped back in, and he started shaking all the water out of his hair, spraying her.
"Ahh! Cold. Could you not do that again please? Did you see anything?"
"Nah. Not a thing. Sometimes I wonder why I became human. Human senses are so weak." Looking at her, though, a sappy smile swept across Inu's face.
"And then I remember the reason." He said, placing his hand on Kagome's abdomen, willing the small life inside to grow strong. Kagome giggled and sighed.
"You're so sweet sometimes, Inu Yasha." Inu frowned.
"Maybe you shouldn't be driving."
"We've gone through this before! You can't drive. You've never had the patience for it. Besides, just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean my driving skills have left me."
"I still think—
Suddenly the car swerved to the side, putting them dangerously close to the railing. Quickly, Kagome took control of the car, breathing freely again.
"Whoa."
"What was that you said about not driving?"
"Hey, that totally was not my fault! I don't know—
Again the car was thrown to the side, this time against the railing, causing sparks. And yet again, Kagome took control of the situation, hands white and tight on the wheel.
"There must be someone swerving into us!" Inu Yasha said angrily. Kagome slowed down, and rolled down the window, looking out into the rain, one eye on the road.
"I don't see—" The something rammed into them again, and Kagome lost complete control over the car. Sliding against the guardrail, sparks flying, the headlights caught a glimmer of something on ahead. Slamming into the rails, the car tore through them, and was sent rolling down the mountainside.
Groaning, Kagome turned her head, and looked at Inu Yasha's bruised face. For all his strength he appeared to be unconscious, looking at that huge bump on his forehead. Becoming more aware, she suddenly realized that they were upside down, the seatbelts cutting into them.
She could hear the ocean nearby, beating against the rocks. She reached urgently for the seatbelt. Those waves sounded ominously close. Her fingers slid on the metal and depressed the button. Nothing happened. She pressed it again, panic settling in.
"Inu Yasha." No response.
"Inu Yasha! Wake up!" Sea spray hit her face and some water rushed in, filling the car below her.
Grabbing his sleeve she yanked on it, staining the whiteness with her blood, cuts from the broken windshield.
"Inu Yasha! The tide! The tides coming in! Oh, my god."
'We're going to die. I can't get out. Inu Yasha won't wake up.' Kagome gasped, hand flying to her stomach, to the life growing there. 'The baby. It has to live. It deserves to have a life.'
The water had reached the top of her head and up to Inu Yasha's face. They wouldn't be able to breathe soon. It was better that Inu Yasha hadn't woken up. He would be spared the slow smothering torture of water that she would go through.
Reaching out, she slid her fingers into his black hair, always soft and now silky in the water. Bringing her fingers up to his lips, they trembled as she touched them. She brought them back to hers, tasting him, tears soaking into her hair.
"We had so short a time. To live. To love. Sorry I couldn't protect you as you protected me so many times. But." She hugged her stomach tightly. "Not for you, my little darling." She whispered.
"For you, I give up the powers of a priestess." She laughed hollowly. "I won't need them anymore, anyway."
She looked once more at her soul mate. "I'll always love you. You are my heart."
Closing her eyes against the salty stinging of the water, she took a deep breath. She didn't have much time to do what she needed to do.
Outside, the demon looked down at his work, chuckling evilly. He loved doing things like this. The thought of the grieving families gave him a happy feeling inside.
'Huh?' A bright light was emanating from the car. 'Magic. Yum! Maybe I won't make them drown. Perhaps I'll eat them. Got to smash them real good.'
The giant demon leaped off the cliff. As he came down on the car, one could see a light, unknowingly precious, escape the car, a split second before he smashed the vehicle.
"This is the worst storm we've had in a while. Do you think we'll flood, this close to the coast?" The young priestess-in-training, Litchi, asked.
"In all my years at this shrine, it has yet to happen. The Goddess Izanami has blessed us many times." Priestess Katana replied, stoking the sacred fire and adding more incense.
"Let us pray and ensure our good luck." In the midst of her prayer, Katana's eyes snapped open. She finished her prayer quickly, not wanting to anger the Goddess Inazami by not giving the proper ending. Standing up, she stalked down the halls, picking her bow up as she went.
"What is wrong?" Litchi asked, following the senior priestess.
"A presence at our doors. It feels strange. It may be a demon."
Litchi rolled her eyes. Katana knew this and sighed. 'Young people these days.'
"Slide the doors open. I'll be ready with my bow." The senior priestess's tenseness rubbed off on the young one, and she fearfully did as she was told.
Litchi sighed, relieved, as all that greeted them at the door was the biting cold wind and rain. Katana's eyes stared into the downpour.
'Strange. I swear I felt something.' Her thoughts were cut off abruptly as a wail broke into the whistling wind. Litchi stooped down, rising with a small bundle held tightly against her.
"Priestess Katana! Someone must have abandoned the dear precious child. Who would do such a thing!" The priestess-in-training pulled aside the blanket, baring the child to her senior.
Katana gasped. For there, fading even as she looked on, was the sign of Amaterasu, eldest daughter of Inazami, goddess of the sun.