You and you alone can save me
Epilogue
By: Kuraii-chan
KK: And this is it. Amazing… I'll miss working on this story terribly. Nearly two years ago I made this. (Nearly…) Amazing.
Seika: Hn. So uh, all you YAYACSM addicts? Look for Bringing Honor. Seriously. It's another Sesshomaru and Kagome romance-thing… and it actually shows signs of something of a plot. O.O;; Yeah, exactly.
Authors Note: Shoot I'm going to miss this story… My first is almost finished.
Annnd, the Fireworks thing is taken from my trip there last year. :D I base it off experience. Seriously, almost all of it. We were there, and we did get those awesome seats, and it WAS deafening. Yeahhh, good times.
Thud.
"Oof!" Kagome blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden darkness in contrast to the light and the setting of where she last was.
So uh… where exactly was she now?
Feeling around slowly, her hands met with the solid wood that enclosed her in this small space. 'The well… I'm back in my own time?'
With a look of utter confusion, she climbed her way out, panting softly from the strain it put on her already overworked body before jumping back in.
… But she was not transported back into the past and instead added another bruise to her steadily growing collection.
"No," she hissed. This couldn't happen, it couldn't end this way! Not after everything, not when everyone needed her most… not when she needed them most.
Furiously, she climbed out of the well and jumped once more, only to be able to count on one more bruise showing up tomorrow. And over and over she repeated this process with the tears of frustration growing in her eyes until she could no longer climb out of the well and instead began to cry softly.
It was over… it was all over.
Sometime later, though Kagome was unsure as to when, her Grandpa stumbled across her. He has almost mistaken her for Buyo with the way she had just been sitting there hunched up in a corner.
Immediately after his discovery, Jii-chan had alerted the house, and with all of their combined efforts they were able to get Kagome out of the well and into the house.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Questioned her mother softly as she tucked her daughter under the blankets. Kagome merely stared blankly, her eyes puffy and red from crying until she could no longer.
"All right," she smoothed Kagome's hair gently before planting a kiss on her forehead. "Just call if you need anything, and get some good rest."
With a sigh, she got up and shut the door quietly behind her. What could possibly gone so terribly wrong in the past that could have had such a profound effect on her daughter? She hadn't even been this distraught over that Inuyasha fellow…
The worried faces of her Dad and Souta awaited her as she descended down the stairs, but she shook her head.
"She won't speak, and all she does is stare… she doesn't even seem to be looking at anything in particular." Souta scowled, but his worry for his sister was apparent in his eyes.
"Well she had better get better soon," he mumbled, turning awkward and heading for the TV. Grandpa scratched his head in thought.
"You don't suppose she needs to be exorcized do you? It's possible she could have been possessed by one of those demons."
She shook her head. "No, I doubt it. Kagome is a trained miko… but it's possible that either the well refuses to let her return to the Feudal Era, or someone close to her died."
Jii-chan opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short as the phone rang. He leaned over and plucked the ringing plastic device from the receiver.
"Moshi moshi," Grandpa listened for a few moments, shrugged ("sure, give me a moment"), and handed the phone to her. "For you."
"Hello?"
"Miss Higurashi?" The voice was deep, but unrecognizable.
"Hai?"
"Higurashi Kagome is your daughter, am I correct?"
She frowned, suspicious. "Hai."
"I would like to talk to you about what you are planning for July 4th…"
"July 4th?"
"Hai. It is an American holiday, and I have airline tickets for you and your family to fly you out to Seattle, Washington to see the firework display they put on every year for their Independence Day."
"… All right, I'm listening."
A few weeks later…
"Kagome! Hurry up or we'll be late!" Shouted Souta from downstairs.
Silently she grabbed her small suitcase and exited her room.
Apparently by some lottery-drawing-thing they had been chosen for an all expenses paid trip to America for their holiday, Independence Day. Whoever, or whatever company was sponsoring this trip even owned one of the docks on the water where the fireworks would be shown. Which in turn would allow them access to some good seats to watch the traditional display.
Kagome vaguely registered somewhere in the back of her mind that this was the most bogus-sounding call anyone had ever made, but sure enough they had received the tickets and the key to the docks in the mail just a few days ago.
Souta had been ecstatic, never having flown before, much less to America. Not to mention the First-class seats were something to be coveted, but she couldn't find it within herself to look forward to the trip.
She would be leaving her home for a week to go to some foreign country. What if Inuyasha somehow figured out a way to get the well to work again? She had to be there to wait, and even try once or twice a day to get back.
Sure, she knew that after this long they had probably given up, but she couldn't deny herself that small hope. Her purpose had vanished with her ability to travel through time, as well as her need to survive. What was life without that cold aloof Taiyoukai?
And worse yet… she had never told him her feelings.
If it meant admitting she lived only in hope that she could go back, so be it. Nothing else had meaning anymore.
Constantly she was told that it wasn't worth it to dwell on the past, but how could she not? No matter what her family said, she couldn't move on. Not after being so close…
With a shake of her head, Kagome exited the house, locking the door before squeezing in the car.
The rest was a blur or crowds, paranoid officers, luggage, loud voices over the intercom, screens declaring flight schedules, overly cheerful flight attendants, and escalators.
"Peanuts?" Offered the stewardess, holding out a small package of the salty nuts. Kagome shook her head, and the peanuts were passed over to Souta instead. She got water despite her soft insistence that she didn't want a drink.
She and Souta were sharing one row while Mom and Grandpa were in the row right across the isle from them. Souta had his face pressed eagerly against the small window nearly the entire flight, the only exceptions for the time he was eating or sleeping.
Half-heartedly she would try to place an expression of intrest on her features when Souta would point out various landforms, but other than that she preoccupied herself by reading a book… only you couldn't quite call it reading, because she didn't take in a word of it.
Finally after what seemed to take an eternity, they arrived, and once more it was the same blur except in English and with Americans everywhere.
Eventually they tracked down their luggage, their rent-a-car, and finally their hotel.
Souta babbled incessantly the entire way, delighting over every small detail.
"Look Kagome! What is that?"
"It is a train Souta."
"Oh, and what about that?"
"A homeless person."
And so it went on, telling Souta what everything was even though about ninety percent of the time he already knew.
"Here we are!" Their mother parked in an empty space and everyone got out of the car (still quite unused to the American ways), grabbed their own bags, and entered the motel in a single file.
A Japanese man was standing at the desk, thankfully, and was all too happy to speak in his native language.
"There are reservations for the Higurashi family?"
He smiled, "Oh yes, you have one room with four beds. You will be staying for six days and checkout is at noon, am I correct?"
Her mother nodded in relief, accepting the envelope with the key cards to their room. "Thank you."
"Not at all. Your expenses have been paid for, and we look forward to serving you while you stay here. At the end of your trip, if you could fill out a survey to tell us about our performance it would be most appreciated."
"Sure," Her mother looked ready to go on talking when Grandpa coughed loudly. "Oh…" she frowned, "Thank you for your help, sir. We must be going now."
The man nodded understandingly, and they proceeded to their room on the fifth floor. ("Well isn't this nice," cooed her mom)
Everyone but Kagome was all too happy to unpack before exploring the room and the rest of the hotel. Despite it only being eight o'clock here, Kagome murmured something about jet lag and went to her bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Tomorrow was the Fourth of July after all.
"Wake up Kagome!" Something bounced on her bed, and Kagome stuffed her head under the pillow.
"Come on Kagome," Agreed another voice, "It's already five forty. We've let you sleep in long enough, now we need to head off for some early dinner and then start towards the dock. Apparently traffic gets really bad if you wait too long."
"Neh," she grumbled, sitting up with a flat look. She stumbled into the bathroom, blatantly ignoring the pairs of eyes that followed her.
After reliving herself Kagome stood at the sink, rinsing the soap off her hands. Then with a sigh, she cupped her hands until they filled with water and splashed it against her face, rubbing vigorously. She repeated it once more before turning off the water and drying her face.
She cast her reflection a glace and was about to get some clothes to change into when she stopped abruptly. Turning she frowned at the thing she saw in the mirror.
Surely that couldn't be her…
But it had to be; her hair and eyes gave her away.
She had lost weight despite it being unnecessary in the first place, giving her a big-eyed fragile look. But… her eyes had lost their life, and simply stared back at her. She almost wanted to call them haunted-looking. Even her hair seemed to be lacking its bounce.
Wow. For the sake of her family then, she'd try and have fun tonight.
Besides… Sesshomaru would call her a fool for allowing this to happen. Inuyasha probably would yell at her about them not being so important as her life now that she finally could fully commit herself to her own time.
She chuckled softly, the sound hoarse and rather bitter sounding.
Perhaps she was a fool. No matter, tonight if it killed her, she'd try to be her old self.
Nodding firmly, she exited the bathroom, grabbing some clothing before entering again.
Stripping off her pajamas, Kagome pulled on a pair of pants, a plain powder blue shirt, and a black jacket. It was almost uncomfortable as opposed to the usual styles of Japan, but she knew that it'd be really cold and it would be highly unwise to dress in something that would do nothing to keep her warm.
Grabbing the brush on the sink, she jerked it through her tangled hair, brushing out her hair until she was satisfied with the large mass of silky brown. Then she pulled it back in a messily done ponytail and glanced at the mirror once more.
Well, it was certainly a start.
"Ready," she called, and knew at once that the smile on her mother's face was certainly worth trying to regain her footing in life.
They ate at a Mexican restaurant, giving Kagome the opportunity to laugh softly as Souta experimented with the salsa and found out too late that he didn't have a high tolerance for the spicy dip.
"Here we are," Everyone clambered out of the car, a sense of eagerness in the air as they approached the gate.
Their Mom unlocked the gate, holding it open for everyone to step through before having it snap closed behind them. Slowly she lead the way through the docks until they had found the extended strip of wood that lead them out further into the lake to the last boat. There they sat, except for Kagome who chose to remain standing, ten minutes until the fireworks were to start.
"Oh look! We're not the only ones!" exclaimed Souta, and sure enough there were about three other families on the same dock, and countless others elsewhere. But sure enough, they had the perfect location.
Everyone was transfixed as the airplane slowly flew in circles with a large American flag suspended. All the Americans burst into cheers and those on their boats and in their cars all honked loudly. It was almost deafening, all the noise, but exciting all the same.
From somewhere the anthem was played loudly, stretching across the water to drench the surrounding area in silence except for the nearby bridge full of cars. Quite a few had even pulled over on the bridge and were sitting there to watch the fireworks.
She wasn't quite sure how much later, but soon the first firework went up, making the loudest noise she had heard yet.
And there it started, only to get louder and lovelier from there on. The large array and variety of their fireworks was astounding…
Gold sparks, and showers of red. Bursts of green and blue. Some were even cleverly done as smilie faces, though how they had managed to put those together was beyond her. What was funnier is some of them turned out sideways or upside down…
And as she was watching the large shimmering bouts of random colors, she felt arms surround and pull her tightly against a solid chest.
She stiffened, mentally scolding herself for letting someone sneak up on her. No more moping around, she'd re-train herself and find a way to put her abilities to use in this era.
"Welcome Higurashi-san," the deep, obviously male voice whispered in her ear. "How are you liking America?"
A shiver bolted down her spine as she wished Sesshomaru was here… but wait, how did this stranger know her name?
And then it clicked.
"Sesshomaru!" She gasped, turning around to gaze up at the pale face of the Taiyoukai.
He smirked, "You've gotten worse. What if I had been some sort of kidnapper?"
"It's you… it's really you." She murmured faintly in shock, wrapping her arms around the slim waist and burying her face in his chest. She could feel the vibrations as he chucked softly, holding her close.
"Hai. Do you know how long I have been waiting for this day? To see you again?" He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply.
She cried softly, holding him asclose as humanly possible. "I've missed you so much—"
"Shh, turn around. Look at the fireworks."
She did so, leaning back and relaxing in the Taiyoukai's embrace. As if on cue, the next firework flared up, bursting loudly into a red heart. Two or three followed before they moved on, but the significance wasn't lost on her.
"You had them do that, didn't you?" she murmured, and she could feel him nod slowly.
I can live again now…"What would you like to know?" Asked Sesshomaru softly, seated in her motel the next day, the glamour dropped and he looked just as she remembered… but in a business suit.
"Shippou! How's Shippou?" The Taiyoukai – former Taiyoukai? - chuckled.
"The kit, he is well. He has grown and matured quite a bit. I believe he mated with a thunder youkai… I do not recall her name however. They seem to be a good match, and it seemed as if everyone had expected it."
… Thunder youkai.
…
OH!
"You mean the Thunder Brother's younger sister?" She laughed, grinning insanely. "Oh I knew it! Any children?"
Sesshomaru nodded, "They have five pups. Born only last century…"
"What about Miroku?" she demanded. She had constantlywonderedif perhaps Sesshomaru had wielded Tenseiga and saved the young monk's life. After all, he had saved Rin hadn't he?
"He is gone Kagome," Sesshomaru pulled Kagome close and hugged the ningen in an attempt to comfort her, "The demon who appeared as you left us and Sango both agreed that it were best that he move on into Death. He-"
"Tsukasa!" She cried, peering up into Sesshomaru's startled face, "What all did he say?"
"He explained your leave and why you couldn't return. And about the Shikon no Tama."
Kagome frowned, never having noticed the absence of that pesky jewel, but remained silent in waiting for the Taiyoukai to continue.
And continue he did, "He explained that the battle within the Jewel was over, as a human and a youkai, opposites in every since of the word, had found love within each other. The Shikon no Tama was more or less purified I suppose, as there is no word to describe the occurrence in correlation to the Jewel. All that matters is that the Jewel is no more thanks to the feelings we had developed for one another. Added to that, now that your job was complete, the Jewel sent you back before it vanished or disappeared, or whatever it is that that damned piece of rock did. What is more, now that you were no longer in possession of the Shikon no Tama you could no longer access the portal of sorts that connected our times. And since the portal was now inactive or unable to be accessed by you, Inuyasha couldn't use it either."
She nodded slowly. Sure, why not, we'll go with that. Sounds complicated which means it's probably right. She nearly snorted aloud. But uh, currently, the sound of Sesshomaru's heartbeat was far too intoxicating.
"The taijiya is fine, and I believe she and my half-brother mated quite some time ago. Both are doing well and I fear they are already on their fourth or fifth litter of pups." If Taiyoukai's made faces, Kagome was certain he would have done so right then
"Kouga still swears he'll have no one but you, and finally Ayame gave up and mated with one of Kouga's men… Ginta I think his name was." Sesshomaru frowned for a moment in concentration. "Oh yes, My-Linh and Hotohori mated as well… I believe they even named one of their pups after you."
Kagome grinned, "Awesome. I always knew they'd work well together! Ohhhhh, and what about Kyo?"
Sesshomaru frowned faintly, "He and Kira have been together for quite some time now, and while I don't particularly care for the match they've made each other quite happy. And I hear they've had your approval all they while, so I can't argue it. Adding to it that they are still some of the best guards and assassins that I have, I can't very well do anything about it. It's their business after all…"
She laughed softly, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Good. I'd have to kill you if you'd told me that you had forbidden it… I worked too hard trying to convince Kyo he was good enough after all."
Sesshomaru merely rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in amused exasperation. "You are quite the meddling ningen, Kagome."
She nodded, "Indeed. And what about Kiba and Rin?"
"Kiba is currently un mated, and managing the security of my company, and various others. He's very well off. Rin passed on about a millennia ago after a happy life with a hanyou. Sadly said hanyou was a bit sickly, and as she was only human she died soon after her mate."
Kagome blinked once. Twice. "Explain this mating thing to me."
"If a human mates to a youkai (or hanyou) and receives the mark, their life span should match that of their mate… assuming the human doesn't meet with some kind of fatal accident. The mating doesn't make them invincible after all, only stretches their life span. Most humans die soon after their mate passes on despite the fact that if they wanted it badly enough, they could survive on their own a couple decades longer. Most either don't realize this or don't want it however."
"Ah, and why is Inuyasha not dead yet?"
"It seems to be a mix of his absolute stubborn attitude, and of being stuck to the tree for fifty years. It appears that has messed with his life span as it was not a natural occurrence, and somehow he has been able to live as long as I with ease. The Taijiya has had no problems either."
Kagome nodded. Well it was good that when they both needed someone most that they had discovered each other. Hopefully that had softened the blow of everyone suddenly disappearing… Oh!
"What about Kohaku?" she asked frantically, struggling to sit up. Sesshomaru, however, kept her firmly in place, stroking her hair soothingly.
"The boy was fine. After the meeting with you (Tsukasa and Kagura had told the others about this meeting) Kagura had taken Kohaku to safety and apparently left him with Kanna, who Naraku had not wanted in the battle. A foolish decision on his part, because not only would Kanna have been valuable in battle, but also because of her growing loyalty to Kagura she kept Kohaku safe and away from the hanyou. She did not even alert him that Kagura had betrayed him or that she had Kohaku; I believe she wanted freedom as badly as her sister.
"As for the jewel shard that is usually in the boy's back, it was taken out weeks before. Naraku had finally gotten to the point where he didn't need the shard any longer to control the boy, only his mind. He retrieved the shard from Kohaku and used it to try and continue increasing his strength… and he didn't want to leave it in the boy as now that Kohaku was healthy and able to survive without the shard you would have gotten the fragment of the Jewel and that would have been one less piece for him during the battle. And apparently after so long of having his memories repressed, Naraku really didn't have to do much to keep them buried. The boy, Kohaku, apparently was doing it on his own."
"And did he ever regain his memories?"
Sesshomaru appeared to be thinking, "No, I don't believe he did. Not fully anyways. He began to recall his sister, and his family, but not the night he slew them. It was probably best off that way, and no one pressed the matter. Why make him remember something like that? Sango was content with what he could remember and refused to let anyone try and force those horrible memories on him. She was quite protective of him for the first few years, but I believe she got better about it later on. Kohaku never mated, and I suspect this was because he had wanted Rin and she had already mated that hanyou. A case of lost love I suppose."
"Aw," Kagome sighed, "That's too bad. I suppose he never truly became happy either. No love, a small nagging that he was still forgetting something, and the feeling that he didn't deserve the kindness he got though he wasn't sure why he felt this way. Not to mention that while he could remember his family, he had no memory of their deaths."
The Taiyoukai sighed, "He could not recall anything from their deaths then on except some mental picture of Sango over him with a katana, crying. I don't believe she ever told him about it either."
How sad… he lost everything and couldn't live as any other boy his age could have. I can't imagine what it must have been like. May he at least rest in peace.
"And you shall be seeing everyone today for lunch. We have a large room reserved at a nice restaurant. Hopefully everyone will be able to fit and we won't have to connect rooms. They are all most eager to see you, but agreed (rather reluctantly) that I should have time with you first."
LUNCH! "I'm not ready!" Squeaked Kagome, almost falling off her seat in panic. "Oh no, what should I wear? I don't know if I brought anything suitable for this…" She dug through her packed wardrobe, nearly crying out in frustration. Sesshomaru did little to help, watching her in evident amusement.
"Calm yourself," He murmured, sliding up behind her. "There is no need to panic, we have an hour and a half before we need to set out for the restaurant." Gently he pulled her back against him and turned her to face him.
"But I don't know what to wear-" Sesshomaru silenced her, gently leaning down and swallowing her words. Kagome melted against the strong, warm body happily. It had been far too long, and they were only too eager to reacquaint their mouths with one another. Mm, and he smelt of sandalwood and large open grassy fields.
"Oh ew Sis! We leave you so you may sob and laugh about what your old friends have been doing, but when we come back you're doing this? That's grateful for you!" He huffed, leaning against the doorframe. Grandpa shuffled his feet in the back, looking anywhere but at the odd couple, and Mom was red.
"Should we come back at a better time?" she asked, a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.
"Uhm, no. It's fine." Carefully, Kagome unwound her arms from around Sesshomaru's neck where they had settled. "I'm going out for lunch though, it'll be a reunion-thing, so don't include me in your plans."
"Mmhm," muttered Souta, still looking rather sick. "Just don't do that in here again. I gotta sleep here."
Kagome laughed, "Sure thing Souta." Once more she resumed her search for clothing, and it went fairly quickly with her mom's help.
"All right, lets go Sesshomaru. See you guys later!" Called Kagome as she pulled the large Taiyoukai out the door. The faint call of "Call us if anything changes" hardly registers as she bounced.
"Ooh, I can't wait to see everyone!" She cooed, but stopped short as Sesshomaru's hand slipped into her hair, cupping the back of her head softly, his mouth only inches from Kagome's. "May I?" he inquired, mouth quirking in a mix between a smirk and a small smile.
"Yes," she whispers, a hint of a smile appearing before she was swept away in a whirl of emotion and color.
Her arms find their away around his neck and told him tight, his warm gentle lips moving over hers. Deftly, his tongue swept across her lower lip before slipping inside Kagome's mouth as she sighed happily. She tasted as he remembered, of unimaginable warmth and honey. The kiss lasted an eternity, yet ended too soon.
Sesshomaru pulled away, sending an amused look to the dazed female in his arms. "We should get going."
"Mmhm," mumbled Kagome, smiling up at him as she unwound her arms from his neck. Sesshomaru couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him, nor bending down to swiftly kiss those tempting lips one last time.
"Come," he murmured, capturing her hand in his. His glamour slipped back into place as the two set off, hand in hand, to meet up with old friends.
KK: Yeah, The End. I hope everything was explained properly and everyone is content. I didn't add the reunion because that wasn't the purpose of the Epilogue. All this very final installment was for is to get everyone back together and tie up all loose ends. I've already done that.
Seika: In English; she's lazy and didn't feel it necessary to write anything else.
KK: Any characters that weren't added at the end in the explanation, I apologize for skipping over.