Hi! So… ya. It has definitely been over a year since I said hey to all y'all. :scratches head guiltily: Well, this is pretty much it. I think I might have an epilogue, but seeing as how tings are going, that might take another ten years. Also, if you notice a change in the writing, well it's been about a year since I last updated so I've changed and therefore my writing has too. I apologize and hope it doesn't detract too much from your enjoyment. Soo… here you go!

Disclaimer: Yes, my sanity is gone. No, there is no spoon. Yes, eating yams with a spoon is prefectly normal. No, I do not own Inuyasha and friends (or enemies)

Chapter 6: What You Waiting For?

Silence filled the forest around them. Anxiously, the world waited for Inuyasha's answer. Seconds that seemed like an eternity slowly passed has the heavy quiet continued. Finally Inuyasha opened his mouth and said, "I feel…

:wheels slowing turning, turning:

pretty?"

Kagome stared dumb-foundedly back at Inuyasha, "You feel pretty?"

Inuyasha proudly nodded at his answer-evasion, "And witty."

Kagome raised an eyebrow, "And gay?"

"Oh! No! I most definitely do NOT feel gay!"

"Then would you please answer my question?"

Inuyasha looked as innocent as possible, "But I did answer the question."

With a sigh, Kagome turned her back away from Inuyasha. "Fine." She then sniffled and reached to wipe a tear from her face.

"Oh, please, don't cry." Inuyasha placed a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, he moved forward. Kagome jumped slightly when she felt Inuyasha wrap his arms around her. She adjusted until she was leaning against his chest.

"Why can't you just share your feelings with me, Inuyasha?" She whispered.

"I… I… I'm afraid." He quietly admitted.

She looked up into his eyes. "Of what?"

"Hurting the ones I love, rejection, failure… and of losing you."

"Inuyasha."

"Because of me Kikyo died and became an undead heinous bitch when before she was kind enough to even forgive such a horrible person as Onigumo. I made her weak, susceptible. She did not deserve that."

"Inuyasha, you have to forgive yourself. And anyway, you yourself know that no matter if she had been weak or not, Naraku would have killed her. He wanted the Shikon no Tama, and you two just became pawns in his sadistic plan." Kagome gazed deep into the golden windows of his soul. "Anyway, never have you failed to keep me alive, as you can plainly see. Don't get me wrong, we've had close calls, but you always come through."

Inuyasha leaned down. "Thank you." He whispered sincerely. Now, they were close enough the in the darkness, Kagome had to struggle to keep his face in focus. Neither of them we doing it on purpose, but the close their souls became, the closer their bodies came, too.

A few little inches away from her, Inuyasha whispered, "Kagome, I'm ready to tell you how I feel." He took a deep breath, "I…

:SNAP:

Inuyasha leapt up protectively, inadvertently sending Kagome backwards with a loud thump. "Who's there!" He demanded. Furious, Kagome rose from the forest floor.

"You know what? That's it! I am sick and tired of our little moments, our bonding (so to speak), being interrupted by sniveling little excuses for demons! Come out here and face me so I can kick your lilly ass!"

"Meep!" A bush cried out. Kagome looked down and parted some branches.

"Shippo!" She cooed. "You poor baby!" Shippo, having been cowering within the confines of the bush, relaxed but right then behind Kagome flames sprung to life. "You are going to DIE!"

Kagome reached into her pocket and took out a two-foot mallet. "It's time to play a little game I like to call… Whack-A-Shippo!" Her eyes wide and red with insanity, Kagome started flung her weapon down at the ground where Shippo had once been shaking in his wee little non-existent boots. But no sooner had he dodged her hammer of destruction than she attacked again.

:POP: Shippo peeped up from within the shrubbery.

:SMASH: Kagome exacted her revenge upon the unsuspecting terrain.

:POP:

:SMASH:

:POP::POP:

:SMASH:

:SMASH:

Meanwhile, Inuyasha stood in one spot looking dumbfoundedly at the scene in front of him. He wasn't surprised that Kagome was attacking Shippo. No, for he himself did the same everyday.

:POP:

What he didn't understand was where the hell that mallet came from. It was true that she had taken it from her pocket, but her entire skirt wasn't two-feet long, much less her pocket.

:SMASH:

Not that he was complaining or anything about the length of her skirt, but wouldn't a mallet be clearly visible? Those pockets couldn't be more than three inches in depth. Two-foot mallet, three-inch pocket.

:POP:

Two-foot mallet

:SMASH:

Three inch pocket

WARNING! WARNING! THINGS DO NOT CUMPUTE!

("Hey Kagome! It that a mallet in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" :SLAP: (it's the Fun With Colons chapter -- heehee))

:POP:

:POP:

:POP?

"Too… tired… to .. keep... playing." Finally, Kagome put the mallet back in her pocket (which left Inuyasha even more confused than before) and sat down.

:POP: Shippo peeked his adorable head out of the bushes, thus presenting the perfect opportunity for Inuyasha to take out his frustrations on something soft and fluffy. He grinned evilly.

:SMASH:

:FLY:

:ZOOM:

:SQUAK:

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha. "Where's Shippo?"

"Keh! You're so mean to him, you scared him away!" Inuyasha said wisely as he seated himself next to her.

Kagome cast him a suspicious eye then sighed. "So, where were we? Ah! Yes, you were about to tell me how you feel! OK, spit it out."

Inuyasha opened and closed his mouth a couple of times.

"Good God Inuyasha! Have you ever taken a moment to evaluate the time we spend together? Wait, what am I saying, of course not!" Kagome stood up. "grrrrrrrr… Just think about it! You don't follow Sango around and she's a girl, too! My friends call you my boyfriend. If I so much as look at another man, you kill him… literally! You may be practically immortal, but I've only got 60 or so years yet, so would you please just get on with it?"

Inuyasha imitated a deer in the headlights.
Kagome pointed a finger at him. "Don't make me get out the mallet." She whispered venomously.

Inuyasha glared at her in surrender. That mallet scared the hell out him. "Fine! I love you! You happy now?"

"SIT!" Kagome screamed.

"What the hell!" Inuyasha shouted.

"It's not nice to lie like that!"

"Wha! Wench!" Inuyasha stood up and yelled in her face. "I wasn't lying!"

"Well, you don't have to sound so displeased about how you feel!" Kagome stepped closer to him.

"You're the one who made me tell you in the first place!"

"Well, now what are you going to do?" Kagome demanded. "You can't take back what you said."

"Who said I wanted to, wench?"

Kagome opened her mouth in surprise. "you… you don't?"

Inuyasha held her arms and smiled. "Keh, no."

Slowly, Kagome's visage split with a grin. "Oh." She sighed.

"Can I kiss you now?"

"Well, somebody better!"

Inuyasha leaned forward. Their eyes locked and for an instant all their problems and obstacles seemed miles away. "I love you." He whispered then touched his weatherworn lips to her soft ones. He kissed her gently at first, then they kissed with all the hunger that had been building for the past three years. When they finally came up for air, Kagome giggled. "I love you, too Inuyasha."

"Awwwww" The shrubbery sighed.

"Shhhhh!"

"Ow!"

Inuyasha looked over at the bushes. Sitting in the midst of the plants, Sango and Miroku smiled innocently.

"Ummm… ten points?" Miroku said.

Taking a break from glaring at his so-called "friends," Inuyasha quickly kissed Kagome one more time, then tore after their small audience.

Smiling contentedly at her love chasing their traveling companions from here to Cairo, Kagome couldn't help but notice the popcorn bag from Miroku and Sango's snoop spot. Looking around, Kagome picked up the snack food and settled down to watch the chase.

THE END!

Well, that's the end! I might repost with revisions, but I promise nothing! Thank you to all the people who encouraged me to keep writing. Because of you guys, I actually came to a semi-conclusive ending to this story! Like I said, I'm hoping for an epilogue, but no promises! Thanx again!