Author's Note: This is the LAST CHAPTER, guys! I know I said last time that there would be a few left, but I really think it would work better if I just skipped ahead to when Kagome is already in the hospital, otherwise I'd definitely bore you all with the "I'm so lost." "Where's the map?" "Haven't we been here before?" scene. So after this, there's going to be an epilogue, and then this whole thing will be over!

Anyways, here's the story, I'll talk more at the bottom of the page.

Chapter 20: Winding Down

"You need to get some rest."

"I'll stay here."

"Then we'll stay with you."

"No, you need to get some rest."

"And so do you!"

"I'll be fine."

"Fine. But if anything happens, call us."

"Okay."

The dim voices reached Kagome's ears like echoes of some other universe, a distant world calling to her. They became clearer and clearer, and she realized she was lying down, on something soft. A mattress. There were sheets. She was in a bed.

She moved a little bit. The voices...they had been male.

Inuyasha, she thought. Yes, it had been him, wanting to stay. And the other...Miroku.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking away the bright lights that immediately accosted her brain. White...so much white. The walls were white, the bed was white, the annoyingly electric light above her was white. And his hair was white as it brushed over her, with a flash of gold as Inuyasha leaned over her, looking down worriedly.

"Kagome?" he asked tentatively. She smiled.

"Inuyasha," she answered, and immediately he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and off the bed with his strength. She laughed, patting him on the back.

"Oh, come on, you big softie," she said. "I only broke my ankle."

"Yeah, in seven million places," he shot back, letting go of her in the name of his ego. "I'm not a softie."

"Are too," Kagome replied tiredly, sitting back against the pillows. The hospital people must have put her under or something. The tiredness still hadn't worn off entirely.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am-"

Inuyasha's voice was cut off as Kagome reached up and placed a finger over his lips. He blinked, shocked, then smiled.

"Fine," he said. "But you love me, right?"

Kagome couldn't help but laugh at that, and in lieu of a reply, brought Inuyasha's head down to hers and kissed him.

The hospital attendant walked in at that point. She was a middle-aged female with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and watched them for a few moments, then cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt," she said. "We just wanted to let you know that Kagome Higurashi will be able to go home today, assuming that one of her parents or legal guardians arrives to pick her up." She raised an eyebrow. "Would you like to call your parents now, or would you prefer to be left alone for a few moments?"

Kagome smiled. "I'll call them now, thanks."

The attendant nodded, then left for a few seconds, coming back quickly with a phone in her hand. Kagome took it and looked down at the number keys, pausing. She hadn't seen the number pad of a phone in years. Running a tentative finger over it, she smiled. Even though she could see it, nothing had changed.

She dialed her number by memory, watching her fingers move so she could re-remember the numbers. She had forgotten them long ago, only remembering the places her fingers had to go. One after the other, the numbers came back, bringing memories back with them. Memories of older times, before her accident...but memories of better times? No. She looked at Inuyasha, who looked back at her, fondness shining in his yellow orbs.

And it was then that she knew. She had no regrets. Did she wish she had been able to see, for all those years? No. Her blindness was something she wouldn't trade for anything else in the world.

She pressed the phone to her ear now, hearing the customary ringing on the other end of the line. A click. Her mother's voice saying, "Hello?"

"Hi, mom?"

"Kagome! Kagome, oh, you're all right! Oh, I was just on my way to the hospital...are you okay? How do you feel? Hold on, I'll come over there to get you right away, how are you? Who's with you? Are you all alone? Is that-"

"Mom, slow down," Kagome said into the mouthpiece, running a hand through her hair, grinning. Her mother was crazy. "I'm fine. The hospital people say you can pick me up and take me home. Really, I'm fine, and Inuyasha is here with me."

"Oh, okay." She could practically feel her mother relaxing on the other end of the phone cable. "Okay. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Okay. See you soon, mom." Click. Kagome held out the phone and the hospital attendant took it, then left. Inuyasha turned back to Kagome.

"So, where were we?"

Kagome stared out the car window for the entire ride, watching the trees and houses flash by, the other cars, everything. She couldn't get over how much cars had changed in the years she hadn't been able to see them. They were so much sleeker now, so much cooler. Inuyasha would randomly point at something and shout out "NAME THAT RANDOM OBJECT!" just to make sure that Kagome hadn't forgotten what a lamppost or stop sign looked like. Her mother did nothing but laugh and smile for the entire trip, obviously extremely happy that her little baby was coming home, safe, sound, and with her sight.

Kagome had offered to call Sango and Miroku, but Inuyasha decided that it would be easier for her to see them the next day at school. He had insisted on letting her rest, get her strength up, and everything, but Kagome saw through all that; the big softie that he was, he just wanted to stay with her, alone. Her mother saw it too, and managed to resist her instinctive want to stay with Kagome, and let the two of them be.

Inuyasha sat across from Kagome, holding her hands for support as she looked wide-eyed around her, as if seeing the room for the first time. After a minute or so of that, she turned back to Inuyasha, who smiled warmly at her.

"So," he began, "what do you think?"

"I...I don't know," she admitted, her voice whispery, awed. "It's not like how I pictured it."

"No?" Inuyasha repeated, shocked. "How did you picture it?"

"I'm not...I'm not sure," she replied. "I think I forgot solid colours, shapes, lines. In my mind it was all so much more abstract, you know? Like not just the looks of things, but also the sounds and the feels..." She trailed off, noticing that Inuyasha was looking at her confusedly. "And I'm not making any sense to you."

"No, not really," Inuyasha agreed. "But are you okay? Like...not too freaked out?"

Kagome looked around her, her expression brightening, then softening. She seemed to glow with a level of comfort that Inuyasha had never seen in her before.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I'm okay."

And it felt like the first time she could honestly say it.

"Kagome! Oh my gosh, Kagome!"

Sango ran towards her friend and wrapped her in a huge hug, pulling her tight as if she might run away again. "Kagome, we were so freaking worried," she continued, pulling away from her and holding her shoulders tightly, as if she wanted to shake her, but resisted on account of her hurt ankle. Kagome was walking around in a cast and crutches, but that didn't stop her from looking like the happiest girl on earth.

"Ah, my lovely Sango," Miroku began, walking up next to his girlfriend and wrapping an arm delicately around her shoulders. "Leave the poor hurt child alone." Sango scowled at him and then let Kagome go. A grin spreading over his face, Miroku immediately wrapped Kagome in his own hug.

"Oh my GOSH! We were LIKE TOTALLY worried!" he exclaimed, pulling away from Kagome and flapping a hand in front of him for good measure. "Look at me, I'm SANGO! Oh my GOSH! Kags! Are you all right? Kaaags?"

Sango slapped him. Hard. The familiar red handprint immediately sprung to life on his face. He grinned at Kagome all the same.

"It's good to have you back," he said, composing himself.

"The first thing to come out of your mouth today that makes sense," Sango muttered, rubbing her hand. Apparently she had slapped him so hard it had hurt her palm, too.

Inuyasha grinned. Yeah, it was good to have everyone back.

"So wait, tell us everything that happened with that jerk that kidnapped you," Miroku insisted. "Where did he take you? How did you get out?"

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other, smiling. "Well, it all began like this..." Kagome said, and proceeded to describe their entire adventure.

The next day, Kagome had been sitting in math class when Kaede called her down to her office. Her and Inuyasha had exchanged glances before she had gotten up and walked out of the room, crossing the now-familiar hallway with ease that she hadn't expected from herself in many years. As she approached the door, she paused to appreciate the beauty of the large oak wood door, and then let herself in. The secretary smiled at her and then waved to Kaede's door, giving Kagome permission to walk in.

Upon entering, memories attacked her - here, she had met Inuyasha for the first time. She scanned the room briefly - Kaede watching her, amused, from behind her wooden desk, two chairs in front of her, a few shelves of books behind. She must have been sitting in one of those chairs; the one on the right, she figured. And Inuyasha must have been in the other one.

"I can still remember the first time I saw you," Kaede said, bringing Kagome's gaze back up to her. "My dear, you haven't changed a bit." Kagome smiled, and Kaede smiled back, warm lines indicating her age on her face.

"I have a proposition for you," Kaede said. "It won't be for a very long time, so you have a while to think about it."

"Okay," Kagome agreed. "What is it?"

"I thought that perhaps, with your unique experiences, you might be interested in speaking at some public gatherings that will be occurring in five years or so," Kaede explained. "I know a group of people that are preparing a school for the blind, a project that they want to begin in seven years, but they are looking for possible teachers and people to gather interest." Kaede looked Kagome sternly in the eyes. "It won't be for five years. You will be a grown woman then, with your own life, and possibly another career. I just want to let you know that it's happening. I'm sure that, if you are interested in teaching, that school would offer another wonderful experience for you."

Kagome nodded, smiling as she thought about it. She would be able to offer help to other people that were going through the same things she had. She could share the things she had learned, and possibly spare some of them the pain she had gone through.

"I'll think about it," she said, standing up.

"That's all I ask," Kaede replied, looking at Kagome with warmth in her aged eyes. "You can go back to class now, Ms. Higurashi."

Kagome nodded and began to walk out, but paused just before reaching the door. "And Kaede," she began, "thank you. For everything."

The old woman smiled and nodded her head. "I'll still be here if you need anything."

Kagome smiled and waved, before leaving the old woman's office. She knew, even then, that she wouldn't need to go back. She had everything she needed, and more. And she knew now, with everything she had learned, that she could find it all in herself.

Author's Note: Wow, guys. It's over.

I never thought it would get this far. I still remember posting my first chapters. I only had it planned up to chapter 5 or 6...this was my first Inuyasha fanfiction, my first love story, even. The support that you've all given me has been absolutely fantastic. I'd love to give out a special tribute to each and every one of you, but there's not nearly enough space here for that, so I'll just give you all cookies instead.

Anyways, I'd just like to say thank you to all of you. For staying with this story, and putting up with my long absences, and all that. You guys have been amazing, and I'm glad that my story could bring you all so much delight.

I'm going to put up an epilogue, but for now, this is it.

Again, you guys are awesome. Who knows, maybe I'll write another fanfiction someday, but for now...thanks for all this.

See ya later!