Items left behind
He rushed back to the hut.
Bursting in the front door Inu-Yasha was fuming. "Kaede!"
Miroku and Sango tried to restrain him but they failed horribly.
"Yes Inu-Yasha." Kaede answered.
"What the hell did you do?"
"Calm yourself Inu-Yasha. Now what is this about?"
"This!" Inu-Yasha yelled pulling out the black rosary. The black rosary fell free and the attached white one trailed behind.
"Inu-Yasha, when the rosaries were broken, they lost their power. I did all I could to preserve the power they once contained."
Despair gripped Inu-Yasha's face. "Then its over…" he whispered in disbelief.
No one spoke.
Inu-Yasha squeezed the rosary. He dropped his head. He slowly walked out of the hut. No one spoke to him.
Inu-Yasha went back to his tree.
The others felt Inu-Yasha's pain. They dropped their heads as well.
"What's that?" Miroku whispered walking over to something golden that lay on the floor. He carefully picked it up.
Sango approached behind him. "That's a locket." Sango whispered over his shoulder.
"I use to have one. It opens." Sango whispered as she reached into Miroku's hands. Sango opened it very carefully then lay it back down in Miroku's hands.
"I wanna see!" Shippo yelled jumping up onto Miroku's shoulder.
The whole group froze at the pictures.
"What is it?" Kaede asked.
"Kagome must have given this to him." Miroku commented.
"He must have dropped it." Sango added in.
Over the next few days the group moped about trying to cope with Kagome's loss. Inu-Yasha hadn't been seen since the night they'd found the locket. They were now beginning to miss her. Miroku and Sango decided to gather the birthday items and have a party at the well. They decided that Kagome would have wanted that. The trip to the well seemed eerie and somehow wrong. They'd traveled the path many times before but something about the circumstances… Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kiarra, even Kaede gathered at the side of the well.
Inu-Yasha spied from his tree. It looked more like a funeral procession than a visit.
Sango began. "We miss you Kagome. Even though we understand your reason for leaving we do not understand why you chose to leave us forever."
Miroku took over. "In our time apart, we have come to realize just how much you meant to us. Though we can never overcome your absence, we have come to cope with it."
Shippo started to cry.
Miroku continued. "But this is a time to be celebrated, this day marks one year since you joined our time."
Sango placed a hand on his shoulder. "We decided that you deserve to be celebrated. So now we place our hopes and dreams with you. To keep you safe, I give you this slayer's bracelet."
"To grant you power, I give you this rosary." Miroku added.
Kiarra threw in her bell. Sango spoke for her. "To grant you happiness, Kiarra gives you her favorite toy."
Shippo held up his picture and with reluctance dropped it in. Miroku spoke for him. "…For remembrance."
"Don't forget us!" Shippo whined.
"For love…" Kaede spoke and held us the locket. "…and for healing, we give these to yee."
Kaede dropped both the locket and a pouch that contained herbs. With a bright flash of light, the items were gone. The group stood in silence for a moment before leaving. Inu-Yasha stared down at the well. It would carry their items to the other side but not him. It hurt that he couldn't get to her.
Kagome fiddled through the items on the floor in her room. Inu-Yasha had left a mess and since Kagome's secret life was so important, her mother never touched her things. Kagome grumbled and groaned while picking up dirty clothes. She moaned as she vacuumed Inu-Yasha's dirt from her floor and sighed when all that was left was a small pile of things her mother brought to her from downstairs.
"These things were left downstairs. I didn't know if you wanted them or not." "Thanks mom." Kagome quickly and cheerfully cut her off. Kagome sighed once more opening the pile on her bed.
The cloth they were wrapped in unfolded carelessly. The inside of the cloth was wet and glass fragments littered the inside. Kagome proceeded carefully taking a small pouch from the cloth. The pouch was covered in tattered sealing scrolls. Kagome became curious as to what was inside. She carefully undid the tie but stared at the tie before proceeding.
It was white almost silver shining in the light. The tie was soft and small like a single strand of hair…Inu-Yasha's hair. Her deduction prompted her attention back to the bag.
It was clear that it had been torn into after it had been sealed…but why… Kagome couldn't help but wonder. Inside the bag were mashed herbs that much Kagome recognized. She placed her fingers in the fine powder. She didn't recognize the herb used; however, she did catch a scent of some of Sango's medicine. Kagome gritted the herb between her fingers then brought a small section to her lips. Kagome started to gag. It was so gross, but for some odd reason she recognized it. Kagome went ahead and closed back up the bag.
She was now curious what other items her mother had found around the house. There was part of a broken cup covered in what seemed to be the same medicine. It certainly smelt the same.
There was also her bandana. She always kept it at her nightstand. Kagome growled and put it back on the edge of her nightstand. There wasn't anything left in the bag that she hadn't seen so Kagome closed the cloth; everything left could be construed as garbage.
Except Inu-Yasha's hair, she decided that she couldn't part with that so she placed it in the vial bottle that she use to keep the jewel shards in. Kagome reached over to place the bottle back on her desk when she heard something hit the floor.
Kagome spun around pulling the precious bottle close to her chest. Her bandana had fallen off her nightstand. Kagome stared at the cloth funny. It shouldn't have been able to fall off her nightstand. It wasn't heavy enough. Kagome knelt down in front of it still staring. Peaking out from the edge of the cloth were beads. Flipping the cloth back out of the way, Kagome wondered why she didn't notice this sooner. It was a small beaded bracelet. Kagome reached her free hand out to it.
The instant she touched it the bottle encased in her hand clinging to the security of her chest began to glow. Kagome froze. Light streamed out from between her fingers. Slowly moving her hand away from her chest Kagome noticed that it was the hair that was glowing.
Plowing down the stairs Kagome ran right over Souta. "Nii-Chan? What was that for?" Kagome didn't answer; she was in too much of a hurry. Kagome swiftly leapt into the well. It was a long fall with no light. Kagome closed her eyes. She hit the bottom. The impact sent a shockwave through her butt and through to her now shaking hands. Kagome opened her eyes to see that she was still in the well house.
Her ploy hadn't worked, but the hair was still shining. Kagome glanced around her. There were things she'd never noticed before: a rosary, a charm bracelet, a beaten cat toy, a piece of paper, a bag of herbs, and …the locket she'd given Inu-Yasha. Kagome gathered the items then made her way out of the well. At the top she turned back, today was her birthday; it was her day, but she missed them too. She wanted to celebrate with them. Her distance from them depressed her. That's when she decided that she would try to send some food and presents back to them.
Kagome quickly gathered ribbon and cake and tossed them into the well, which was followed by the small rosary her mother had found in the house. When the rosary hit the bottom, the items were gone. Kagome sighed.
Stationed in his tree, Inu-Yasha watched as a light shown from the well. His heart stopped; Kagome had returned something to him. The others came running from the nearby woods. Inu-Yasha's curiosity was stifled by their presence. They spotted Inu-Yasha in his tree, but did not even try to persuade him to come down.
Shippo leapt into the well with Sango and Miroku not too far behind. Shippo leapt out with the cake while cheering happily.
"See I told you Kagome would like your drawing." Sango commented.
Shippo bounced around. "What's that?" Miroku asked staring at Shippo.
Shippo shrugged and dropped the beads he was holding. Sango stared at it.
"So your gift did not…?"
"No." Miroku corrected. "I gave this to Inu-Yasha to give to Kagome about two weeks ago. Kagome must have used it to transport …that… back to us."
"Why would she do that?"
"Why not?"