A/N: Before I begin this chap, I'd like to give out some very special acknowledgements.

This chapter was inspired by two things: firstly, by the problem I am having with my boyfriend right now. He is leaving *permanently* for Canada this October, and I'll never see him again... damn. (T_T) I know exactly how Kagome feels right now. Jesus... when I started this fic, I had no idea that I would actually be living it!

Secondly, by the long distance relationship of a friend of mine with her boyfriend. Charlene, my friend, had met her dream guy in mIRC actually, in the person of an American named David. I had a severe case of writer's block, fuelled by my heartbreak, and her telling me about her boyfriend one day gave me a sudden hit of inspiration. Their love story is sooo romantic, it gave me ideas. One of the lines in this chap is actually derived from something she told me that he had said to her.

So, they indirectly helped me with this chap, and I'd like to express my thanks. Their relationship is rather "against all odds", with a few junky *losers* standing in the way, but I know that they would make it through somehow. I'm a romantic - I believe that love can move mountains. Thanks again!

Anyway, this chap is dedicated to them. To Charlene, the best friend anyone could ever have, to David, who lights up my friend's days, and to my boyfriend, who I god damn love and will greatly miss once he leaves. Thanks again!

Well, I hope everybody enjoys this little chappy. It took me a helluva lot of revising to get this out, which finally settled after inspiration hit. And no, people, this chap isn't purely fluff. I was in a very fluffy mood as I wrote this, but I furiously fought the fluffbears in my brain to get a decent chapter out. A small warning though - this chap is a bit angsty.

I know, I ranted too much again. You guys probably don't even read a/n's. On with the chap!

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I wouldn't be a virgin. KAMI! I don't own him! As much as I'd want to own those cute ears, those amber eyes, that HOT body and that... I just don't, ok?

-----/---@

SEVEN WEEKS

Great Jokes

-----/---@

Kagome slowly opened her eyes, squinting hard against the sunlight that managed to enter the hut. The tiny cracks in the wooden walls let in enough sunlight to stir her from the most peaceful sleep she has ever had.

She was backed up against something hard, warm and solid, blanketed by a thick red quilt. She pulled the quilt up against her chest more tightly, before her eyes widened in surprise.

'This isn't a quilt... kore wa Inuyasha no hakama...' she thought, before memories of the previous night assaulted her mind. She blushed wildly, a hand nervously smoothing back the hair that had fallen across her eyes, knocking back a strong arm that was wound possessively around her waist.

"Mmhmm..." the one who owned the arm around her groaned, tightening his hold on her. She was spooned up against the said person, who mumbled incoherently, nuzzling her neck, before contently quieting back down into a deep sleep.

"Inuyasha," she whispered wistfully, craning her neck slightly to look at the person who held her. She could see the side of his face, and noticed that a corner of his lips was turned up in a slight smile. She blushed again as she realized what that smile was probably about.

She was not quite contented with what little part of him she could see, though. Slowly, carefully, she turned herself in his arms, so that she was looking right in his face instead of faced away from him.

She watched him in something akin to awe. He looked so different in sleep. He looked almost... peaceful. The worry lines that were seemingly permanent on his face were smoothed back, giving him a nearly angelic expression.

Kagome smirked at that. 'By the gods, Inuyasha is ANYTHING but angelic!' she thought in amusement, letting her fingers tread leisurely through his silver forelocks. The strands of his hair felt silky on her hand, and she followed the strands up to toy with his right ear.

'Damn ears,' she thought with a small giggle when her target instinctively twitched away from her touch. 'Why these things fascinate me, I probably never will know. They're just so darn... so... kawaii!'

She finally caught it, and she carefully rubbed the base of his small triangular ear. She suppressed a laugh when she heard a low rumbling purr come from her hanyou lover.

'He really enjoys getting his ears rubbed,' she thought with a grin, but her train of thought was cut off when she remembered just how much he had liked it last night. She blushed again, and tried thinking of less seductive things. 'Miroku in my clothes... think of Miroku in my fighting clothes...' (A/N: I'd write "Miroku in a tutu" but they don't have tutus in Crystallia)

She nuzzled her head in his chest, drawing random patterns on his skin with her fingers as she inhaled his tangy scent, listening to the steady beat of his heart. She only regretted the fact that her senses were not as sharp as his. She would have been able to smell him more sharply if they were. She hooked a leg against his and sighed.

Inuyasha awoke slowly when he felt movement against his chest. He opened his eyes and he smiled when he saw a dark head of hair.

'Kagome,' was the only thing his brain came up with at the sight. She was lying close to him him, tracing lazy patterns on his bare chest. Her breasts were pressed against him and she was breathing softly, humming a soft tune almost unconsciously.

"Hey," he said to break the ice. She looked up at him with a smile.

"Ohayou," she greeted him.

Inuyasha mock pouted. "You say the same thing every morning," he said, wrapping his arms more tightly around her.

"Of course I do... what else would I say other than 'good morning', Inu- chan?" she asked with a similar pout. "Any ideas?"

Inuyasha grinned. "How about, 'hey there handsome, how was your night?' "

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. "And you think I would consider that because...?"

He shrugged. "Just hoping."

She laughed and kissed the tip of his nose in a pacifying manner. "Ok then... hey there handsome, how was your night?"

He grinned again, before replying. "Oh, the night was G-R-E-A-T. Do you plan to ask me how my sleep was, as well?"

Kagome blushed as red as the hakama that covered them both, realizing what she had said. "Pervert," she replied as Inuyasha began laughing.

"Can I greet now?" Inuyasha asked as his laughter died down. She puffed her cheeks at him.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," he said. "Hello to the loveliest creature on earth. How was your sleep? You look vibrant... I take it you slept well?"

She grinned up at him. "Thanks for calling me vibrant and lovely... I slept well, thanks to you. You really tired me out. Darn exercising..."

Inuyasha blushed this time, before both burst into laughter.

Kagome was still sputtering with laughter when she realized that Inuyasha had quieted down, staring at a point beyond her and looking seriously deep in thought. She calmed down in an instant, worried.

"Inuyasha," she called hesitantly. He didn't even glance at her. She tried again, but he seemed to distracted to hear. She reached a hand up and cupped his cheek, pulling his face to her to look into his troubled eyes. "Inuyasha... daijobu?"

Inuyasha put his hand on her hand on his cheek. He pulled it up gently, holding it between his own. "Kagome," he began, staring into her concerned gray/blue eyes. "Aishiteru."

Kagome was puzzled, but managed a smile. "I know. Aishiteru mo. What's bothering you?"

He took a deep breath before resuming. "Kago-ko... I don't want to lose you... I- I can't live without you! What would I do once I... once I leave?"

She stifled a gasp. She had nearly forgotten about that!

"I... I don't know, Inuyasha. Wakaranai," she replied as small tears formed in her eyes. "I don't want to lose you too, demo... we can't help it Inuyasha. We knew from the start that parting is inevitable. We can't do anything about it."

"IYA! I can't just allow that! Kagome, if I were to lose you, it would kill me! I've never felt like this for anyone before and I don't want this to end," he protested. "Isn't there any way? Any way to keep you with me?"

Kagome smiled bitterly. "Gomen. You can't stay here for longer than your allotted time, or your world will be destroyed. Remember? We can only live in the moment and make the most of it, so that when it is all over, once we part, we can still look back on the memories..."

Inuyasha growled, sending a small rumble trough Kagome's chest. "I don't want to look back on only memories Kagome! I want you with me... you, for the rest of my life."

"Demo, I will be with you, Inuyasha!" she said, putting a hand on the right part of his chest. "I will always be in your heart... as you will be in mine. And last night... we left a part of ourselves in each other last night. We will never be truly apart."

"It's not the same. I want to be with you," he argued. "I want to wake up to your voice everyday. I told you that I love hearing your voice first thing in the morning, remember? I want to be able to hold you in my arms for all my life, to start a family with you, to grow old with you... I don't wanna let go of the best thing that ever happened to me."

The tears in Kagome's eyes began to fall. "I don't want to lose you too. Inuyasha, I really don't want you to go! Why did this happen? Why do you have to be from a different world?" she asked in anguish. She cried on his shoulder, wrapping an arm around his chest

"I don't know... fate is cruel," he said in contemplation, softly combing his fingers through her obsidian tresses. "I guess... it must be Kami's idea of a great joke, having the two of us born in different worlds. We could have just lived in different continents and it would have been easier, but no... we had to be from different dimensions."

Kagome cried harder, and Inuyasha did his best to comfort her. He hated seeing her crying, but this time, he couldn't really blame her. Hell, he wanted to cry too! He patted her back softly, whispering soothing words in her ear, when something occurred to him.

"Kagome!" he called, suddenly bright. Kagome looked up to him through tear- stained eyes.

"Hai... nani?" she asked.

Inuyasha looked excited. "I know how we can still be together after this!"

Light entered her sad eyes at that. "Honto?"

"Yeah! Once I rescue the princess, I could ask her for something, ne?" he asked.

Kagome's heart fell slightly. 'He still doesn't know... that I'm the princess. Whatever he's thinking couldn't work. But maybe...'

"Well, go on," she prodded.

"I just thought... maybe I could ask her to let me bring you to my world!"

She stiffened. 'Shit, I knew that was coming,' she thought as she visibly saddened.

"Kagome? What's the matter? Don't you want to go to my world with me? I promise, you will never be lonely. I'll take good care of you!"

Kagome knew it was impossible. Inuyasha could never wish for the princess herself to leave Crystallia. "I... I would love to go to your world with you, Inuyasha..."

"But?" he asked, knowing something was on her mind.

"I don't think that would be possible, Inuyasha. I belong here, unlike you. I really would want to, but... I don't know if..."

Inuyasha looked determined though. "I would only ask for that, Kagome. I want you to be with me. Azalea is bound to give me that wish!"

Kagome smiled sadly. "I know she would grant you anything, if it were possible."

"She will. Kagome, promise me you'll go to my world with me? You told me that you no longer have anything here in Crystallia. I'm rich back in my world... I can give you AVYTHING you want. All I want to know is... would you?"

She hid her oncoming tears before sadly nodding, pretending to be somewhat excited. "I promise to go with you, if the gods allow it."

He brightened. "That's great!" he yelled, before leaning down and capturing her lips in his own. He pulled himself up so that he now lay over her, deepening the kiss as best as he could. He pulled away after a few minutes, breathless and grinning. One of his hands then traveled up to cup Kagome's right breast in his hand.

"So..." he said slyly. "How about one more for the road? Before we resume our travel?"

Kagome grinned back at him. "Animal," she joked, before reaching up to pull his head back for another kiss. She put her lips next to his ear as she pulled away and whispered, "Better make it quick... you only have twelve days left in Crystallia, you know."

"That's long enough for me."

-----/---@

"Sango! Behind you!"

"Hiraikotsu!"

The morning sun was now high in the sky, meaning it would be time for lunch in two or three hours. The pair had been traveling on Kirara's back peacefully, with Sango on her sleep shift.

Since they had to travel day and night, they had agreed to sleep for a few hours one after another, all three of them never sleeping at the same time. Whenever it was Kirara's turn to sleep, she would turn back to her small form and Sango would carry the neko in her arms and walk on foot with the monk.

Anyway, all was well until a large horde of youkai suddenly appeared and attacked them. They had managed to strike Kirara, and she had tilted enough to send both Miroku and Sango off her back and to the hard ground bellow. Miroku had managed to catch Sango and land on his feet, and now they were both quite widely awake, fighting to stay alive.

It was their first time to actually fight without their powers in six whole years, and Sango was starting to get the hang of it. She remembered her days as a taijiya, fighting alongside her brother and father to protect the land from evil youkai.

Miroku would have said that he was enjoying himself, were it not for the fact that they were in immediate danger. How he had missed fighting! He had been a mystic warrior as well as a monk before going to the palace, and fighting with his shakujou and ofuda really brought back memories.

"Nice shot, Sango."

"Arigatou, houshi."

Miroku swung his staff above his head, aiming smartly for a particularly gruesome youkai that had its eyes trained on Sango. He dug into the first pocket of his robes and took out a small ofuda, slapping it onto another one that nearly managed to strike him. The nasty thing had clung to the bottom of his loose robes, and he furiously kicked it away before stabbing a small land youkai with the tip of his staff.

Sango, wearing her black exterminator suit, had no problem with caught robes, but her hair was a common problem. "Aagh!" she yelled in fury when a thin demon that she swore reminded her of a tree pulled her by the hair, trying to make her fall to the ground. She furiously unsheathed the sword at her hip and stabbed through it.

"No one touches my hair and lives!!!" she shouted, swinging her boomerang around to hit any monster that came within range.

They could also hear Kirara growling angrily and furiously slashing the monsters down with her jaws and claws.

Miroku was growing impatient. "They keep coming! There must be hundreds of them! I have to use the Kazaana!" he called out to Sango, who furiously shook her head.

"We already - talked - about - that!" Sango yelled between strikes and stabs to different youkai. "You shouldn't use the Kazaana too often, and you - know - it!"

"But I - have to!"

"I don't care! We have to try to take them on without your Kazaana!"

They continued their fight, but all three soon grew weary. Sango tripped on her own feet as she swung her bone boomerang, and Kirara, thankfully, caught her before she hit the ground.

"Sango!" Miroku yelled when he saw Sango fall with a mad shout, and let out a sigh when Kirara came to the rescue. He ran over, swinging the shakujou around him to keep the youkai out of his path as he made his way to Sango.

"Daijobu?" he asked hurriedly, as Kirara lunged forward and tackled the newest threats.

"Hai, daijobu."

"Usutsuki. You're exhausted," he commented as he turned to strike down another youkai. He pulled another ofuda from his robes and threw it out randomly as he looked back at Sango.

"I really do need to use the air rip, Sango."

Sango considered. The rip grew larger with each time the monk used it. But if he didn't use it now...

"Alright. But be careful."

Miroku nodded to her curtly, before holding the beads that covered his right hand in his left. "Kirara! Get out of the way! Sakenderu, ima sugu ni!"

Kirara growled in understanding when she saw Miroku holding the rosary. She flew up, giving Miroku his cue.

Miroku pulled the rosary and cloth off his hand hastily as the remaining youkai came within range. "KAZAANA!" he shouted, unleashing the air rip in his right palm.

The youkai realized too late what the monk was doing. They tried to flee, but all was in vain. The kazaana had grown much more powerful by now, and all of them were sucked into the void.

Miroku gave a final shout, covering his hand before falling to the ground in exhaustion. His hand was pulsing painfully, and his entire body felt rather numb. He clutched his hand tightly and brought it to his chest as he panted uncontrollably.

"Miroku!" Sango shouted in alarm when she saw Miroku fall. "Miroku-sama! Are you alright? Gods, what's wrong!?"

"Genki desu, Sango. It's just that my air void has never before sucked in so much negative energy..."

Kirara came up to the pair and turned back to her small form. She mewled softly before climbing onto the monk's shoulder, nuzzling his sweat- dampened cheek.

"Arigatou, Kirara. I'm fine now," Miroku said comfortingly. The neko jumped off his shoulder as Sango helped him up, and transformed into the large flame cat.

The tired warriors helped each other climb the cat, and it took them a while before they were finally settled enough to start flying.

"Miroku-sama, you should sleep," Sango said imploringly.

"Demo, Sango-sama, it's still your turn, remember? You've only been asleep for three hours."

"I know, but... you need the rest more than I do right now. Please go to sleep, houshi-sama. We'll just trade turns."

Miroku eyes were drooping as they spoke. "Are you sure? You're tired too."

"I'm positive. Go to sleep."

Miroku smiled at her disarmingly before drifting off to sleep behind her. He let his shakujou lie across her lap and leaned slightly on her. She held on to his arms, smiling softly.

"Rest yourself, Miroku. Sweet dreams," she whispered. 'Inuyasha. We're coming.'

-----/---@

After some early morning exercise, the lovers bathed in a nearby freshwater spring, dressed up and set off, hand in hand, towards the garnet tower. They had barely walked a hundred meters when Kagome stopped.

"Nani, Kagome?"

"Ano... Inuyasha... wasn't Kouga with you when I was abducted? Where is he and why did he keep calling you a sorcerer?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice.

Inuyasha smirked. "That moron... Kagura managed to outsmart him. She told him that I had kidnapped you and hypnotized you after I found out that you were falling in love with him. Dumb huh?" he said as he saw Kagome's eyebrow twitch in irritation.

"So he thought that I was in love with him?"

"Yeah... which reminds me - what in Kami's name did you do to make him think that you had a thing for him?"

"You're not jealous are you? Coz I'm telling you, you'd have a heck of a small brain to doubt my affections after what happened last night and this morning."

"I'm not jealous, just wondering."

"Good," she said. "Well, I kinda led him on. I pretended to make a move on him so that I could get to the keys strapped around his waist."

Inuyasha's eyes bugged out. "Don't tell me you seduced him?!"

"NO! I just made his mind a bit hazy, that's all."

"How?"

"I forgot, now drop it. Where is he?"

"Well... he went off to find Naraku when you got poisoned."

"He did?" Kagome was astounded. "Why?"

"He said he had no idea what the antidote was for Miasma, so he decided to go squeeze the answers out of Naraku," Inuyasha explained. "I would have gone, but I didn't want to leave you vulnerable. Besides, Kouga's faster than me."

Kagome smiled. "Well, I'm glad you two put your differences away somehow. When did he say he would be back?"

"Now that you mention it... he said he'd be back before dawn. He was in a hurry because we needed that antidote, which was right here all along. Keh. If I had known, he shouldn't have bothered."

"Do you really want him to have been there last night?"

"Not really."

"I knew that. Now I wonder what is taking him so long. We should have already run into him or something," Kagome said, changing the veering topic. "I'm worried."

"I can see that. Is something wrong, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome was now chewing on her bottom lip in concentration.

"Nothing really. It's just that... I can't help but get the feeling that something has gone terribly wrong," Kagome explains, looking at Inuyasha through glazed eyes. "I have a bad feeling about Kouga."

Inuyasha squeezed her hand and smiled shakily. "Well, don't worry. That asshole is tougher and more stubborn than you could possibly think." He pulled her close, burying his face into her hair. "If something IS wrong, we'll save his sorry butt. Ok? Now don't worry."

She nodded into his haori. Inuyasha gave her one more squeeze before pulling back, leading her to the tower by the hand.

Kagome felt considerably lighter then, but couldn't dismiss the niggling feeling that something terrible had indeed happened to the ookami prince.

-----/---@

"Naraku... teme. Let me go, you asshole!"

Kouga flailed around in fury, glaring daggers at the evil hanyou. He was suspended in the ceiling by long tentacles that had spurted out from Naraku's body.

"Let me off, you coward! Why don't you just tell me how I can heal my woman so that I could kill you quickly?" he demanded from his place on the roof.

"You should talk, wolf. You seem very able from your place on my tower's ceiling!" Naraku chuckled darkly before Kanna came into the room, holding her mirror out before her.

"Naraku-sama," she said in her weak voice. "There is something you have to see. The hanyou and Kagome..." she hesitated.

"What about her?" Naraku asked, and he noticed that Kouga also perked up.

"Look..." Kanna said before showing him what was in her mirror.

Naraku gasped in surprise at the image before him, before his features contorted with rage. Kouga also saw what was in the mirror, and his eyes narrowed in anger at what he saw.

Kanna's mirror showed Inuyasha and Kagome, covered in Inuyasha's hakama, but obviously naked. He lay above her, kissing her deeply while his hands were seemingly preoccupied beneath the hakama, and she had her hands tangled in his long hair, eyes closed as she kissed him back. Her cheeks were flushed, and she panted lightly as they pulled away.

Inuyasha grinned at her, before kissing her lips lightly. She let a hand wander over to his muscular forearms, a small, tired smile grazing her lips.

"Aishiteru, Inu-chan."

"I love you too, Kagome. This is the best morning of my life."

"Iya... MASAKA!!!" Naraku yelled, knocking Kanna and her mirror to the floor with his fist in his anger. The mirror shattered, releasing small wisps of smoke that apparently, were stolen souls.

Kouga was in a state of shock. 'That filthy hanyou... and my Kagome. He had claimed her! How?! She was dying... what happened... how could they do this to me?!'

Naraku was having similar thoughts. 'How could he have healed her? He didn't know what to do! He couldn't even purify a tree! How?'

"This can't be happening! She was supposed to fall for me! She was supposed to make love to ME! Not that bastard from another dimension!" Naraku bellowed to the skies.

Kouga looked down at the broken shards in pain. 'He had taken her... but, she is happy. She loves him... not me,' he thought, his heart feeling like it was being torn apart. He couldn't get himself to be mad at them... but he also couldn't bring himself to be happy for them anyway.

His musings were interrupted when he heard a low, insane chuckling come from Naraku. "Asshole," he began, shaking his head. "Have you totally lost it now?"

Naraku didn't answer - he simply pointed to Kanna. Kouga looked in the direction his hand was pointing to. He gasped when he realized that Kanna's mirror, which Naraku had shattered not a minute ago, was once again whole and gleaming.

"Ookami..." Naraku began. "I now have the perfect use for you," he said, spurring Kanna towards the prince.

Kouga fought his binds futilely. Kanna was now directly below him, pointing her white mirror in his direction. Kouga caught a glimpse of his angry, horrified expression before darkness took him.

-----/---@

A/N: Short chapter, I know. It just seemed like the best way to end it. No sense lengthening a chapter and making it end weirdly, ne? And sorry for the kind-of-cliffhanger. Can't help it. Besides, though I was quite inspired, I have so much to do for school today, and I'm still trying to decide whether I should accept that latest chorale invitation. Grrrr... I haven't even studied for my Biology exam yet!

Reponses:

Krys the Angel: Hi! I'm glad you liked my last chap. It took me a while to get that out! School's starting!? OOOOH... good luck! I'm not really smart, I'm just a big nerd. And I get the jitters whenever I see test questions too... they're worse than CK. *shudders*

Litwolf689: Thanks! I'm glad you liked the chap. And yes, you can review on aff.net too! There's actually a big bar beside the button with the dropdown chapter list box. It's a bit at the bottom of the page. You'll read it? Oh, thanks! Please review that too! I need reviews so that I know if what I write is worth the time...

TheWraith: Haha! My archery instructor told me I can put whoever's face I want to put on my target as long as it makes me shoot better! Raditz? Man... that DOES sound hard. Giving Vegeta that story might be even harder though... or maybe not.

Kawaii-Anime-Lover: It's ok! It doesn't really make too much of a difference if you read it or not. Heck, I started reading lemons when I turned 16! It took me long enough, ne? I still remember the first one I read... a blanket challenge entitled "The Storm". HEHEHE!!!

Niku: Healthy, but tired. LOL! Salamat! Glad you liked my chap.

Dragonstar03: Thanks!

Jesse The Wolf Demon: I'm a hopeless romantic... ^_^ Thanks! I'm lad you like it that much. And oh... sorry for getting Kouga in trouble today. I'll make it up to your role model in the future, I swear.

Trina: Hi textmate! Thanks for the review. Glad you like it. How was Florante at Laura? Hindi ka ba nastranded? LOL!

Hanamaru285: Here's the update!

Did I get everyone? I hope so. Anyway, as I always say in my time-consuming a/n's, THANKS to all those wonderful people who reviewed. *Goes teary-eyed* You guys are my LIFE!

I hope you all liked this chapter. I know it probably isn't the best of everything I have ever written, but hey, I tried to make it good. I just don't know if I succeeded...

And gods, I wanna know!!! Please, oh please, oh PLEASE tell me what you think. I would TOTALLY appreciate it. All comments are welcome. If you know me personally, please review. If you don't, please review! Just tell me what you think!

Thanks again! Kiotskete, kudasai! Ja matta ne!

ScarletRaven1001