Here I Am

-:-

Rippon

-:-

Disclaimer:

Me no own, u no sue

-:-

"Inuyasha?"

He turned to her. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk. Pronto."

He blinked. What? Was something wrong? Moreover, why was she looking at him like him like that?

"O-okay?"

-:-Here I am- this is me-:-

-:-There's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be-:-

-:-Here I am- it's just me and you-:-

-:-Tonight we make our dreams come true-:-

He looked at her, carefully gauging her reactions, and facial expressions. Something was up. Something important…

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. "I love you."

He froze. What? Was he dreaming? Could this really be happening?

"Here I am. Take me as I am, or turn me away forever. I want you to decide right now. We've been putting this off for years. Tell me flat out."

He was silent for a while, still trying to discover if this all was really happening, and if it was, could he really choose?

Kagome took his silence a different way. "I see. Thank you for finally deciding. It was nice to finally know your true feelings."

Inuyasha's head snapped up in time to see Kagome walking out of the hut, her back to him, hair swaying this way and that. In that one moment, with her leaving him like that, she seemed unreachable to him. It hurt him so much.

It was then he knew.

He could never let her go.

"Kagome! No! I love you!" He ran to her still form, and clutched her to his chest. "I love you. Please, please don't ever leave like that again. I can't ever let you go, no matter how much you may want me to. I'll keep you forever."

It was then Inuyasha noticed her lack of response.

Could he be too late?

"Kagome?"

She suddenly spun in his arms, eyes filled with tears, an extravagant smile lighting up her beautiful face. He leaned down to her.

"I love you. So here I am, begging you for a second chance," he murmured into her ear.

Her widening smile was answer enough.

-:-

"Kagome! Our brats are driving me nuts! HELP!"

The aforementioned woman giggled. Her husband was currently being mauled by six partial demons, who were all happy that he was back from his trip with Miroku.

"Oh, no. I don't think I will. You're the all powerful Inuyasha, remember? Can't you deal with a bunch of little pups like them, without your majestic wife having to save you yet again?"

Her husband glowered, as he was trapped beneath his children. "KAGOME!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Too bad, so sad. This is for all those annoying times you boasted about yourself."

-:-It's a new world, it's a new start-:-

-:-It's alive with the beating of- young hearts-:-

-:-It's a new day- it's a new plan-:-

-:-I've been waiting for you-:-

-:-Here I am-:-

After about ten minutes, Inuyasha managed to distract his kids with the poor, unsuspecting Miroku, who had innocently walked in to greet Kagome and the pups. After all, he'd been on the trip too, so he knew all about it.

Inuyasha slid up to his wife, hoping to catch her off guard. Alas, she knew his habits, and turned around at the precise minute he was going to attack. The result was their lips touching. They smiled at each other, and leaned closer, therefore deepening the kiss.

The moment was beautiful.

Inuyasha pulled away, and hugged his beloved.

"Here I am, Kagome."

Her eyes widened, and then she smiled. Hugging him tighter, Kagome felt tears prick her eyes. She might have cried too.

That is, until a bunch of rambunctious pups decided that Miroku was no longer of use to them.

"EW! Mommy and Daddy are been icky again!"

Kagome winced slightly at the shrill cry. That was her child all right. Observant like her mother and whiny like her father.

She sighed good-naturedly. Well, time to get dinner finished.

Pulling away, she kissed Inuyasha on the cheek, and went over to the hot oven. Inuyasha smiled behind her back. He was such a lucky man. He had the most beautiful, wonderful wife in the world.

"Inuyasha, you're drooling," Miroku said, a perverted grin on his face. Inuyasha snapped out of his daze, and smacked Miroku across the back of the head.

"Watch it, Monk."

He simply laughed.

-:-

"I-I do."

More sniffling.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, pretending to be tough, even though he himself was fighting a losing battle against those horrible tears.

"Then, I pronounce you, Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride," Miroku's aged voice smiled. He was proud of his niece and new nephew-in-law.

Kagome clung to Inuyasha. Her youngest and last baby was finally leaving to make a family of her own. Now, it would once again be just her and Inuyasha. She wondered how she would cope. It had been a long time since she'd had a life for herself, without having to worry about what her children wanted for dinner. It was heartbreaking.

Inuyasha held his beautiful wife closer. He knew how hard this was for her, to finally let all her children go. He knew, because he was having trouble himself. He was sure that it would be different without their kids. It would be harder and lonelier, but they would survive, just as they had before.

As his darling daughter and her new husband walked down the isle, and settled onto their horse, they waved to Kagome and Inuyasha.

Kagome smiled beautifully then.

It reminded him of that day so long ago, when he had finally revealed his true feelings. She had smiled so beautifully; she had been so happy. It was just like now.

As the horse rode away with its precious cargo, Inuyasha gripped Kagome's hand, and she turned to him.

"Let's go. I think maybe it's time we moved on from here."

Kagome, although at first bewildered by Inuyasha's idea, realized it would be very sad returning to a home each day, and waiting to hear someone call "Mommy" or "Daddy", and have it never happen.

She squeezed his hand. "Let's go then."

He smiled to her.

She turned back to him. "Here I am, Inuyasha. Take me where you will."

He could only smile back at her.

-:-Here we are- we've just begun-:-

-:-And after all this time- our time has come-:-

-:- Ya here we are- still going strong-:-

-:-Right here in the place where we belong-:-

"You know, I'm really gonna miss this place. It holds so many memories."

Inuyasha held her to him. "Yeah, but we'll come back one day. I promise. Let's just have some time off from life."

Kagome turned to him. "You know, I used to think we belonged here."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at her.

She continued. "But now I see that the only place we belong is in each other's arms. Forever."

He cried then.

-:-

"I like it here, It's so cozy, and it reminds me of the old days."

Inuyasha smiled at his wife. She was always so perceptive. He loved that about her.

"Inu-koi? Do you like it here? You know- this whole new scenery." He walked up behind her, and kissed cheek.

"I do. I think it's a great thing to be able to see all this at our age. When we finally die, we'll have seen all this. It's awesome. I think this is one of my better ideas." He grimaced, remembering all his rashly made decisions in his youth.

Kagome laughed at the face he made, and smacked his arm.

"You're stupid, Inuyasha! Silly man, you always have good ideas. The way you put them into action, however, is a different matter entirely."

Inuyasha playfully growled. Kagome laughed.

"Silly puppy, who do you think you're growling at?" Kagome tweaked his ear. Inuyasha did as expected.

He purred.

Kagome laughed again.

-:-It's a new world-it's a new start-:-

-:-It's alive with the beating of- young hearts-:-

-:-It's a new day-it's a new plan-:-

-:-I've been waiting for you-:-

-:-Here I am-:-

Kagome and Inuyasha sat next to each other as they watched the flames die away. Kagome turned her head toward Inuyasha. She watched his face for a couple minutes. He was so handsome, even in his old age.

It was then that Inuyasha swung his head around, and spotted his lover watching him intently. He smirked.

"Like what you see?"

Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. "Jerk!" She turned her back to him. Inuyasha growled playfully at her.

"No mate of mine is gonna ignore me, no siree!" He attacked.

"No Inuyasha! Stop! P-please! I-I can't b-breath. Stop t-tickling m-me! HAHAHAHAHA!"

When he finally did pull away, The two hugged for a moment, be fore turning out the light.

"Love you, Kagome."

"Love you too, Inuyasha"

-:-

"I-Inuyasha?"

His eyes snapped open upon hearing her voice. He was at her bedside in an instant. "Kagome? How do you feel?"

Kagome pushed him back into his bed. "Sit down and shut up, pretty b-" Kagome coughed for a few moments, before she resumed talking," –oy. You're sick too, remember?"

Inuyasha smiled at her. She was always so concerned for others it touched him.

"Oh Kagome…"

She looked up to his face, still beautiful, despite his obvious sickness. They'd both caught a deadly disease back when they had been traveling, after their daughter's marriage. Kagome felt tears spring to her eyes. She was incredibly frightened. Although she had been through many wondrous battles, she still feared death. Of course, this was only natural. But, somehow, deep inside, she knew she could make it, if only Inuyasha remained by her side through it all.

Inuyasha saw the warning signs of tears, and hugged her close to him, instantaneously igniting his coughing. Kagome looked worriedly up at him.

Once the attack had calmed, Kagome pulled back her blankets, and offered a space to Inuyasha by scooting over in her bed.

"Will you stay with me?"

Inuyasha smiled.

"Of course, koi; always and forever."

-:-Here I am- next to you-:-

-:-And suddenly the world id all brand new-:-

-:-Here I am- where I'm gonna stay-:-

-:-Now there's nothing standing in our way-:-

-:-Here I am- this is me-:-

Years later, deep inside the great and wonderful Inuyasha's Forest, there laid two graves, each seated next to the other one. Lilies decorated the ground around them. It was a truly beautiful site.

And then there were two names.

Kagome.

Inuyasha.

And beneath their names, engraved with the utmost care, were the words-

"Here I am."

Owari

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Like it? It's a one-shot, so NO MORE CHAPTERS! Please excuse typo, my PC was eating some words every time I tried to edit. So, I'm sorry 'bout that. -

Review PLZ! Oh, and anything within -:-blah blah-:- was lyrics from the song "Here I Am" by Bryan Adams, made especially for the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. I LOVE THAT MOVIE! If you haven't see it, then you're missing out!

Over and Out!-

RIPPON