The End

For over an hour, Ilyo remained slumped on the ground, staring blankly at nothing.

Finally, Icthalur couldn't take it anymore, and he went over to Ilyo and yanked him to his feet. "Come on, my friend. There is nothing more we can do now. We might as well go find Sesshomaru." Ilyo didn't say anything, but when Icthalur took off, he followed.

After about an hour of flying, the two friends came across Sesshomaru's castle. From the outside, it looked almost identical to the castle from the future. Icthalur and Ilyo landed on the front lawns, and quickly entered the building. Once inside, they realized how different the dwelling really was.

In the future castle, the inside looked like it belonged to some spoiled royalty, but this castle was not like that at all. It was very dark and there was almost no indication of life. As the two walked up the main staircase, they looked in the rooms they passed and only a few had anything in them at all.

When they reached the second floor, Icthalur and Ilyo both turned to where they knew Sesshomaru's office was. The door was ajar, so they entered without announcing their presence. Inside, they were greeted by the sight of Sesshomaru throttling Jaken. They watched as Sesshomaru finally dropped his servant.

Ilyo could tell that Sesshomaru had once again become the Lord. He figured that as soon as Sesshomaru had returned to this era, he had been recognized as the true ruler.

At that moment, Sesshomaru finally noticed the two of them standing in his doorway. He turned his emotionless mask towards them. "Why are you here?"

Ilyo didn't say anything, so Icthalur took that as his cue to speak. "After you passed through the portal, it drew in Ilyo and myself. We were forced back into this era and now we appear to be stuck here for the long run."

Sesshomaru nodded and turned to Ilyo. To everyone's surprise, a look of pity and sadness was evident on Sesshomaru's normally emotionless face. "I am sorry that you are unable to get back to your woman, brother. If it is any consolation, you will be able to meet her again one day. We demons do live a very long time."

Ilyo thought about this and smiled. He realized the wisdom in his brother's words. He nodded. "Thank you, Sesshomaru. You are right."

Icthalur watched the brothers silently, before asking his own question. "Well, now that is settled, what are we going to do for the next five hundred years?"

At this, both Ilyo and Sesshomaru grinned widely.

"There will always be demons after the sacred jewel, and now that I have it, they'll be coming for me." Ilyo stated.

Sesshomaru nodded his head, showing he agreed with Ilyo's statement. Then, he spoke up. "Let them come. We will destroy any who think that they can defeat us. Others will come as well. As ruler of the Western Lands, there are always demons who think to replace me." The three looked at each other and grinned, thinking of their futures with anticipation.

After a while, Ilyo looked to the sky, silently hoping that the next five hundred years would fly by as quickly as possible.

Back in the future, three days had passed since everyone had returned to the Feudal Era through the tree. Kagome stayed in her room, only coming out to eat a few mouthfuls of food a day. Her family was growing intensely worried about her.

Kagome's mother, grandfather, and brother were all sitting around the kitchen table, thinking up ideas about how to draw her from her room, when a loud knock startled them all. Kagome's mother got to her feet and went to answer the door. To her immense surprise, there were three large figures standing in the doorway.

"Greetings," one of them said in an incredibly deep voice. "May we come in?" Nodding her head, she moved aside and allowed the three strangers to enter. They followed her into the living room and sat down on some chairs and the couch. Kagome's mother watched the three carefully. She had recognized them as soon as they came through the door.

Ilyo raised his head. "May we see Kagome?" She shook her head. Ilyo looked disappointed, until she expanded on her statement.

"No, she is sleeping." Ilyo nodded silently and turned to his two companions, Sesshomaru and Icthalur. They nodded as well. Ilyo turned back to Kagome's mother.

"Is it all right if we wait then?" She nodded and then turned and went back to the kitchen, leaving the three alone.

"It's only been three days in this era. She's probably still very upset about how things turned out." Sesshomaru's logical statement made sense to Ilyo and he nodded. Then, he leaned back, indicating that they were to wait silently for Kagome to awaken.

Unknown to the three demons, Kagome was already awake. While sleeping, she had heard what sounded like cars pulling into the driveway. She had looked from her window in time to see two cars, expensive ones, park in the yard. Unfortunately, from her angle, she couldn't see who got out of them.

Shrugging, Kagome had been about to go back to bed, when she caught a faint scent coming from downstairs. Her eyes widened when she realized whose scent it was. Throwing open her door, she jumped down the stairs, landing just by the kitchen door.

Looking up, Kagome's mother smiled to see her daughter out of bed. Inclining her head, she motioned towards the living room. Kagome turned and rushed joyously into the living room, and was greeted by the sight of all three demons staring at her from their resting places.

In an instant, Kagome had propelled her body at Ilyo. He caught her in his arms and held her close to him. Kagome rested her head on his shoulder and began to cry. Ilyo looked a little nervous, and he attempted to say something soothing, but he was halted when she pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

Lost in the moment, the two of them remained lip-locked until a loud noise interrupted them. Ilyo looked up to see Icthalur grinning at him. Even Sesshomaru looked amused. Ilyo grinned back and looked back down at the girl in his arms.

Kagome was looking up at him with love in her eyes. Then she got a confused look in her eyes. "Did you find another way to get back to this era?" she inquired, curiosity colouring her voice.

Ilyo shook his head however. "No. We have lived the last five hundred years, waiting for this day. We would have come sooner, but we had things we had to do first." Kagome nodded, but Ilyo could see that she was dying to hear all that had happened to the three friends in the past five hundred years.

Turning, Ilyo placed Kagome on the couch beside him and began to tell the tale. "After we returned to the Feudal Era, Icthalur and myself reached an agreement with Sesshomaru. We lived in his castle, and we became joint protectors of the Western lands. We had many battles with different demons, and we defeated them all. Eventually, we started talking to the Lords of the Southern, Eastern and Northern Lands in an attempt to unite the four. That would stop all of the territory battles. Unfortunately, only the Northern Lord was interest. The other two refused outright. Overtime, we became good friends with the lord of the Northern Lands, and after several years, we united."

Kagome felt a moment of pride towards the three. Then, Ilyo continued on with the story. "The next thing we knew, the Lord of the Eastern Lands and his army attacked us. We defeated them all, and as we were disposing of them, the Lord of the Southern Lands launched his own attack. We defeated him as well. This left both the Southern and Eastern Lands without Lords. I assumed control of the East and Icthalur stepped up in the South. We united the lands, and there was peace for about a hundred years. Then, desperate demons started to come out of the woodwork, all gunning for the Shikon Jewel." He sighed and shook his head. "It was a very trying time. After several decades however, they all finally gave up, and we lived in peace for another long span of years. Soon after that, we realized that the times were changing. Human populations were growing and technology was advancing. We decided to change with the times. We started our own businesses and became quite wealthy. Now, we run our companies, and each of us still retains control over the Lands we have controlled for the last few centuries. We don't exert our control often, but it is there nevertheless."

Kagome listened to this silently and thought about it for a moment. Then she smiled, happy for Ilyo, Icthalur, and Sesshomaru. As she thought, she took a closer look at each of the three. Sesshomaru looked unchanged except he was dressed in a business suit instead of his usual white attire and his swords were no longer strapped to his waist. The familiar emotionless mask was still present however, and Kagome found she was pleased to see that the years hadn't changed the stoic demon Lord all that much. She instantly knew that this Sesshomaru was very different from the present day Sesshomaru that had previously existed.

Next, her gaze went to Icthalur. He was the same, with the same clothes and everything, but Kagome could tell that he was more powerful than he had been before. There was something in his eyes and even in the way he was seated that just screamed of raw power and confidence. He smirked at her when he realized she was studying him and she smiled back, happy to see the dragon demon.

Finally, Kagome's eyes came to a stop on Ilyo. He remained exactly the same as he had been before. He was older now, to be sure, but as a whole, he remained the same powerful, caring dog demon she had fallen in love with. She smiled and once again wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm glad you came back to me," she whispered in his ear. "But what happens now?" This question had been nagging at the back of Kagome's mind since she had entered the room and seen Ilyo sitting there.

For his part, Ilyo looked surprised by her question. "Well," he said slowly, "I thought maybe you would come and live with me. I do have a rather large house."

Kagome smiled happily when he fell silent. She didn't have to say anything; the look on her face was telling enough.

With the long explanations and tales out of the way, Ilyo rose from his seated position and gestured for Sesshomaru and Icthalur to do the same. Together, the four demons made their way out into the kitchen, where Kagome's family was waiting silently.

Kagome's mother took one look at her daughters smiling face and her eyes filled up with tears. She knew immediately that her daughter was going to be leaving her. It made her sad and happy at the same time; sad that her precious daughter wouldn't be around as much, but incredibly happy the Kagome had found someone to love.

Slowly, Kagome peeled herself away from Ilyo's side and approached her mother. The elder woman met her daughter with open arms and two embraced each other tightly. Tears were flowing from the eyes of both women as the males looked on in silence.

After a moment, the two separated and Kagome smiled. "I just want to say good bye to you guys. I'm gonna be leaving with Ilyo tonight and I'll be moving in with him permanently. I'll be back for my stuff tomorrow."

"I figured as much, sweetheart," her mother said softly. "We'll miss you terribly dear. Promise you'll visit a lot."

"Of course I will mom." Kagome smiled tremulously before turning to her brother and grandfather. "Bye guys. You better not touch my stuff while I'm gone," she cautioned Sota playfully.

The young boy grinned back at her and shook his head. "Of course not, sis."

Kagome's grandfather smiled wistfully. "I knew you'd end up with a demon in the end. At least you picked a strong one," he said with a laugh.

Kagome laughed along with him for a moment before falling silent. The silence lasted for several moments before she decided it was time to say one final goodbye. "We should be going now. Bye mom, grandpa, and Sota. I'll be back soon."

Kagome and the other three demons left the house while being showered by a chorus of 'goodbyes'. She paused and looked back at her home sadly for a minute, remembering all the good times she had there. Then she thought about where she was headed and a smile came onto her face.

Regardless of what she was leaving behind, she had a great new life to look forward to. Life with Ilyo was sure to be interesting, especially with Icthalur and Sesshomaru hanging around.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind. Kagome was done living in the past; it was time to start living for the future.