A/N: This isn't a chapter, though one will be coming as soon as I'm done with this notation. It seems that there's been a bit of confusion about the time placement of this story in the arc as a whole. I'd like to apologize for that and take a moment to explain.
You see, when you're hopping between the past and the future and, as in the previous story, dream and reality, trying to retain a firm grip on timeline will only drive you crazy.
However, for those of you who will not be able to enjoy the story without some sense of time, I will offer the following information (those of you who have not read a fragile heart, but intend to, be warned, there are spoilers for that story in the following):
'A Fragile Heart', the story that precedes this one, took place in a 'dream future'. The vast majority of what happened there was not real in the physical sense, but the result of a dream that a sorcerer trapped the characters inside of.
At the end of that story, Kagome uses the Shikon Jewel to return things to the way they were intended to be, so the epilogue brings us back to near the beginning of the tv series and the original Inuyasha timeline, rewinding past all that has come to pass in every previous story in this arc, including the original, 'Not that He Cared' that started it all. In other words, her wish brought us back to the original beginning of the story, shortly after Kagome first fell through the well and they began collecting shards of the Shikon Jewel. But at the same time, there is a lingering echo of the previous stories or "things that could have been, and that, should the story unravel in a certain way, may yet come to pass. That makes the previous stories both the past (in the sense that it has already occurred in the arc) and the future (as time has been rewound to before these things happened, giving the characters a chance at a better future).
It is in that sort of flip-flopped timeline that we enter "I Will Wait".
I say you can assume the new story to begin approximately two weeks after the wish made on the Shikon no Tama, but as you can see, the story begins "five months earlier"—this is 5 months before the immediately preceding lines, not in any way related to "A Fragile Heart", as I have stated that this story will, most likely be able to stand on its own, so I have no reason to make a connection back to the previous tale other than to explain where this fits in relation to it for those of you who have read the other three stories.
The story's opening lines are "the future"—a bit of foreshadowing on my part that is completely lacking in any subtlety. You will see these lines again later in "I Will Wait", consider them a simple glimpse of things to come and nothing more. Forget the timelines of the previous stories, as "A Fragile Heart" rewound time beyond them. That is not to say that they never happened, but they now exist as little more than a lingering sense of deja-vu as the characters are given one last chance to get it right without the tragedy of the previous stories. Those of you who read 'A Fragile Heart' will likely remember that, prior to the epilogue of that story, pretty much everyone dies. This is their last valiant attempt at creating a love story without tragedy, so in that sense, it exists as a timeline separate from the rest of the arc, though the stories are all connected. After all, in the original timeline, practically everyone has died. Not much story to tell there. The epilogue of "A Fragile Heart" began a new timeline that "I Will Wait" takes place in. But, again, if you must have a cohesive timeline, assume that the action of this story (excluding the foreshadowing at the beginning) starts about two weeks after the wish was made on the shikon jewel and time was rewound, though for obvious reasons I am hesitant to nail it down like that.
I hope this clarifies any questions that were out there about this story, and also it probably clarifies any lingering questions about the previous story as well. I apologize for any confusion that a complex storyline has caused, but when constantly hopping from one time to another, it is easy to get lost. For me, that's part of the fun. I think the characters, also, would be confused if they remembered everything. Lucky for them that they can forget things the reader can't. Well, like I said, I hope this clarifies any confusion and doesn't just make it worse. I will have the next chapter up as soon as I finish typing it.
Banshee Puppet