The tree behind Higurashi shrine had been there longer than anyone could remember. It preceded the family's first generation and grew tall enough to cast shade for the whole the family lineage. It had withstood fierce rainstorms, piles of snow, and even the heat of a brush fire.
The tree had stood there when those found love, or lost it somewhere along the way. It seemed to happen very often that way; the simple pleasures of life growing more complicated like the changing seasons. Progress. Just like that tree had once been merely a seed, germinating with the right amount of love and nature, so did people and the rest of the world.
The demons were long gone; no one remembered when it happened, or how. It simply did. For all the demons, kind and evil in the world, the cycle of life had inevitably caught up to them. And so, like a dying flower withering against a sandstorm, the demons were swallowed up and into the swirling winds. All became one. Some demons disappeared into the seas, some into the mountains, some even into the things we see everyday. The delicate balance between worlds began anew.
Kagome thought nothing of this, crouching against the trunk of the tree as the tumultuous thunderstorm raged about her. Buuyo's kitten, Kilara, howled against the torrential wind and rain, the baby feline too terrified to move from its high perch. The rumble of thunder neared as the rain intensified. God, she wished Hojo or Sota were around,digging her fingers into the bark and trying to pull herself up. The wood was slippery, but even if hadn't been, there was no way she was climbing up that monolith of a tree. Kilara continued to moan, and it tore at the young woman's heart. Kilara was the sole newborn to survive Buuyo's only liter, and Kagome had felt an immediate attachment to that survivor kitten. But for some reason, that damn cat just loved climbing this tree, whether playfully or in fear. This was one of those times that fell into the "fear" category; Sota's overanxious and oversized dog Kouga had frightened poor Kilara, chasing her out and into the pounding rain. As if constantly humping Kagome's leg wasn't enough to bother her, the hyperactive dog had to chase her kitty around.
Kagome stretched her hands up as far as she could, calling to the kitten but still several feet out of reach. She jumped just as the earth suddenly shook, a bolt of lightning striking a nearby tree, casting flaming sparks from its trunk and across the ground. The glowing embers died under the hail of rain, and Kagome felt the panic again. This wasn't a good time to sit around and dawdle, she realized, stretching upwards again.
This is pointless. Nothing I can do will make Kilara come down. She felt an utter and complete frustration, her eyes welling up with tears.
And then somehow, an utter unexplainable event occurred that she would remember for all her days. Reaching up fruitlessly again, ready to resign herself, Kagome suddenly felt the wet and cold fur of the frightened kitten in her outstretched hands. She looked up, and saw the bough of the branch bending back high above her. She blinked away the tears of rain from her eyes, and still she saw it. The tree had moved…? No, it must've just been the wind and rain, she thought. Clutching her precious Kilara, she ran back into the house, casting one last look at the tree. For some odd reason, the faint memory of an old fairy tale popped into her head. But for the life of her, she couldn't remember the name of it.
She would later come to rely on that tree more and more, to even count on its support. Through all the difficulties and joys of her life, that tree remained a steady part, always there to lend her a bit of its quiet strength. Her mother had once told her that her father had proposed to her under the tree, and she thought it incredibly sentimental. And yet, the man who loved Kagome saw her affection for that tree, and when he knelt to propose to her beneath its calming presence, she gladly accepted, turning to look wistfully at the monument that had always been there for her. She wouldn't need it anymore, she thought. She had Hojo to lean on now.
But still the tree remained a constant. Kagome played with her grandchildren under its branches, regaling them with the wide eyed wonders of a world long past but never forgotten. Her stories were of a life lived long ago, like a faint memory of a book one had read to them a lifetime earlier. Eventually came a day she sat to rest under the towering tree, soft sunlight drifting through stirring leaves,when her last breath finally left her. Her first daughter, the one she had named Sango, found her soon afterwards, and few would believe what she would tell them later. Though the sun was weak and the wind crisp that day, the thick leaves had somehow parted to grant the last bit of spring's warmth on her aged, peaceful face. It was as if that tree had loved her right back.
Author's note: Courtesy of some feedback I had gotten on this story, I began to toss around ideas of how I could give this story an ending that would make readers happier. I eventually found some time and pumped this out in a sitting without a conclusive ending in mind. I merely set out to illustrate the cycle of life, even in one person's lifetime. We see it all around us and rarely give it a second thought. Like the tree; I wanted to consider the tree as a character, so I gave it some background and eventually realized the similarities to Inuyasha were too many to ignore: both were constants, protectors, and unable (or afraid) to express true feeling for Kagome other than being reliable. The show has taught us that the demons can exist in everyday things, and so I wondered, why can't Inuyasha become part of the tree? And so, this ending was borne. I know the marriage to Hojo might bother some, but I see Kagome as the type of girl to marry her first love.
A couple of other things; I'm not sure if Buuyo was a male or female cat, so I took some creative liberties to create a defenseless plot device we could see years later. Also, regarding the spelling of Kilala/Kirara; since most can't come to a definitive conclusion thanks to the translation from the Japanese language, I decided to blend both and I honestly liked the sound of it. Regardless of these trifling details, I hope you enjoyed the new epilogue and can walk away with a smile on your face.