Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha I don't own InuYasha I don't own InuYasha…dammit! Get the point already!

A/N: Finally, enough time to finish this chapter:D I hope that you'll enjoy this last chapter and that you've enjoyed my story overall! Also, the alchemy involved in here might be a bit off the one in Full Metal Alchemist, so please don't make any funny comments about it:D

Warnings: Romantic crap and a bit of swearing

"InuYasha, cheer up! This is our second last day in Hawaii!" Sango yelled as she dragged Miroku, Koga and Sesshomaru through the shopping mall. Waking from his trance, InuYasha grinned weakly as he watched his older brother helplessly following Sango through Macy's. Sango could be extremely strong when she was trying. Children ran back and forth and babies cried to their mothers, some of whom were busy eyeing the merchandise in windows. Shopkeepers occasionally yelled out their wares and explained the use of a product to a crowd.

"Sango, for Pete's sake, stop pulling at me!" Koga pulled himself away with difficulty, brushing at his sleeves. "I'm with you! Chill, dudette!"

"Whatever you say, dude!" Sango giggled as she shoved her other two captives…into the women's fitting rooms along with the shoes she had picked.

Loud screams and hollers of 'Perverts! Get out of here!' and 'Oh, heaven!' (obviously Miroku) echoed from the room. A few minutes later found Sesshomaru staggering out with red/black eyes and Miroku with two visible lumps on his head forming. InuYasha was tempted to make a smart remark, but words failed him. Instead, an image of Kagome popped up in his head, and InuYasha mentally swatted it away. Why did that idiot always find a way into his thoughts? She was dead; there was no point brooding about the past. Blinking away any tears that might fall, InuYasha made his way over to a nearby restroom. Seeing his friend disappear into the restrooms, Miroku followed, taking care not to let Sango see him.

Miroku found his friend shutting the door and, as casually as he could, entered a cubicle.

"Hey buddy, wassup?" Miroku asked pleasantly. He heard InuYasha curse before saying, "Mind your own business, lecher!"

"Hey, no need to get so hostile," the 'lecher' responded, sounding hurt. "The least you could do is to tell your old pal why you're so down."

"You sound like some freaking woman," InuYasha snorted before relenting. "It's Kagome…I just can't seem to get rid of her."

There was a silence. "Don't worry about her," Miroku replied at last. "She's fine, I swear."

"How would you know? You're not Kagome," InuYasha said, and Miroku heard the faint rustling of pants being pulled up.

"How would you know that I know that Kagome's fine? You're not me," Miroku replied smartly, flushing the toilet. The two friends came out at exactly the same time and both proceeded to wash their hands. After both were done, InuYasha quickly hugged Miroku. "Thanks, pal, I knew you'd be there for me."

"Hard times, I'll always be there for you," Miroku answered, and both stayed there for awhile. When they parted however, InuYasha saw a boy with his eyes wide open.

"Mummy…" the boy whimpered, clutching his blanket. "I want mummy…"

Quickening his pace, InuYasha hurried Miroku out of the toilets, cursing to high heaven. "Dang it, you stupid lecher, this is all your fault!" The dog demon shook Miroku until he was tired, then let go of his friend's collar.

"Hey, it wasn't me who got sentimental all over," Miroku smirked. "Anyhow, let's go meet Sango."

"Speak of the devil," InuYasha muttered, and both turned to see Sango, Koga and Sesshomaru rushing over. "What happened to you two?" Sango exclaimed. "We were looking for you all over!"

"I told you the two were in the toilets," Sesshomaru said quietly. "Their scent was strongest there."

"Well, I'm not a guy, so I can't go in," Sango retorted. "I can't go into the men's restrooms whenever I want! If you were so sure of yourself, you should've gone in and checked that they were there!"

"Actually, I'm glad that you guys didn't check on us," Miroku said quickly.

"Yeah," InuYasha agreed, and the five left it at that. The rest of the day was spent going on rides at a nearby amusement park and shopping. InuYasha won two diamond rings (which he accepted rather reluctantly), Sesshomaru received a huge Stewie family guy plushie while Miroku gave Sango a cute little dolphin stuffed toy. Everyone retired from the fair happy that day.

That night

"Whose ruddy idea was it to come here for dinner?" Sesshomaru asked grumpily. "If we'd gone back to the hotel, I could've cooked something for us all."

"In your dreams, brother. The only things you can cook are Brussels sprouts, and those are gross as hell," InuYasha snorted, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "At least this restaurant has some top quality chefs. Sesshomaru, I'm telling you, you'll never be able to live without someone else. You can't cook." Sango, Miroku and Koga sighed in unison; if they weren't careful, a fist fight would commence.

"I can always order takeout, and I can still learn how to cook," Sesshomaru said coldly. "I don't mind."

"What you said," InuYasha replied, snorting. "Is all garbage. You won't have time to learn how to cook with your acrobat career, and you can't go around eating takeout and going out for meals the rest of your life."

"Time management is something you don't have, little brother," Sesshomaru sneered.

"Look, I know you two are about to have your lovers' quarrel, but don't you think it's time to order your food?" a familiar voice asked, amused. Surprised, InuYasha turned his head, to see…Kagome.

"Kagome, you're…alive?" InuYasha croaked hoarsely. He couldn't believe his eyes. What was happening? What he suddenly dead? How could Kagome have returned?

"Of course, and Kikyo is, too. She's just using the washroom." Kagome eyed InuYasha suspiciously. "Didn't Miroku and Koga tell you?"

"Tell us what?" InuYasha glared at the pair, now tittering away. "Spill or I'll rip your throats open, and this puke green tablecloth won't look good with crimson red dots and streaks on it."

"InuYasha, do you have to be so graphic," Sango mimed vomiting before staring curiously at Koga and Miroku. "Okay guys, what were you hiding?" Even Sesshomaru was curious; his amber eyes gazed steadily at the pair.

"Okay, time for us to come out clean," Miroku said at last. "You see, back at the fortune-teller's tent before the showdown with Naraku, I found a book about all sorts of alchemy tricks, so I purchased it without telling you. After Kagome's and Kikyo's death, Koga and I couldn't sleep, so we flipped through the alchemy book…and found a spell telling us how to revive people from the dead. We tried the spell…and it worked!" Miroku grinned at Koga, who grinned back, showing white fangs.

"There are still a lot of questions that went unanswered. First of all, what happened to the bodies that went for the funeral…?" Sango questioned, her eyes puzzled. "And after the resurrection, where did Kagome and Kikyo stay? Sesshomaru, InuYasha and I never saw them once!"

"For the first question, we just substituted their bodies for huge stuffed dolls," Koga explained. Everyone was so busy, nobody noticed anything at all! We also bribed the doctor to just tell everyone the original cause of death so that nobody would notice anything funny."

"There are even more questions to be answered now, fools," InuYasha gritted his teeth, and pulled Kagome towards him, an arm draped protectively around her shoulders. Surprised at this, Kagome frowned a little before turning back to Koga's explanation.

"For the second question…" Koga began.

"Kikyo and Kagome stayed at my friend's house. It just occurred to me that I'd forgotten to visit a friend, so she helped me shelter Kikyo and Kagome, and I just told Kagome and Kikyo to meet us here tonight," Miroku said. "I'll have to say thank you to Laura later," he added thoughtfully.

"Okay…" Sango said uncertainly.

"Two more questions," InuYasha said. "First of all, I thought there was a law to alchemy-equal trade. What did you trade for Kagome and Kikyo? It must have been something precious."

"Well…" Miroku looked down at the tablecloth. "I used…um…that metal love thing that you wrote to Kagome once…that was when Koga and I were doing when we'd said that we both needed to go to the toilet and…erm…the ring you told us Sesshomaru hid in his bedroom all the time. He took it with him on this trip, you know." The whole sentence was mumbled, but the two youkai heard anyways.

"Why you little…" Sesshomaru growled. "Why didn't you use something of your own? That ring was precious to me! I-"

"Even more precious than Kikyo's life?" Miroku interrupted, silencing Sesshomaru. "The book said that the possession had to be from someone who loved the dead person, and the object had to be precious to them," Miroku said. "I couldn't pitch in because I only like Sango… (at this moment Sango blushed and turned away) and Koga liked Kagome, but he didn't bring anything precious with him on the trip. And since we figured you two have a thing for Kagome and Kikyo anyway…" There was an awkward silence.

"So Koga, you didn't bring money?" InuYasha shot out. "That's pretty precious to you."

"The stupid thing wouldn't accept money," Koga replied.

"So InuYasha…do you have a thing for me?" Kagome asked, her eyes blinking. "If that's so, that means Sesshomaru…"

InuYasha couldn't reply; his pride wouldn't allow him to. Did he really love Kagome? If not, why had he thought of her all those times he had been alone? He had tried to save Kagome from death, but had failed. His conscience was still guilty. All he could muster was, "Kagome, I'm sorry."

Before Kagome could reply however, Kikyo appeared, smoothing her hair. She placed her hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder, which made him stiffen. "Hi guys, what's up?"

"Just explaining our stroke of genius to the others," Miroku grinned.

"Whatever you say," Kikyo sat next to Sesshomaru and leaned on his shoulder. InuYasha cackled as his brother squirmed uncomfortably before settling down-he knew that 'Fluff-brain' was not used to signs of affection.

"In any case…" InuYasha said. "Since Fluffy is a bit…preoccupied…I'll ask my two questions now. First of all…how in the hell did you get your grubby paws on that metal thing? I see it got to Kagome…"

"Didn't you know? Kagome brought it with her on the trip-said it was from you and that she found it in a cereal box…"

"A cereal box? That's crazy!"

"I know, but there's the answer. Next question?"

"Why didn't you trust us with this? Why didn't you tell us about resurrecting Kikyo and Kagome before?" InuYasha sounded slightly hurt with this, and Kagome couldn't help but pat his arm sympathetically.

"We just wanted it to be a nice surprise for you all," Miroku answered easily.

"And it was!" Sango burst in, grinning at them all. "Let's celebrate with some champagne and roast chicken!" Dinner passed by in a festive mood, and not even Sesshomaru complained about the food.

That evening, with InuYasha

11:00pm…InuYasha couldn't sleep. Getting quietly out of bed, he dressed and wandered onto the terrace. Turning around, he gazed at Kagome sleeping peacefully, and began to think about the day's events.

Sure, Miroku and Koga had done a good job reviving Kagome and Kikyo, but did he really love Kagome? If that stinking piece of metal had done the job, did that mean that he really did care for that wench? InuYasha thought of the times they had argued together. They had seldom agreed on one subject-before he had felt that hole in his heart because there was no one to argue with. Sesshomaru was just a sissy.

"Why are you up, InuYasha? You should be in bed," a sleepy voice yawned. Whipping around, InuYasha watched as Kagome made her way towards him.

"Can't sleep," he mumbled. "Why are you up? You were sleeping only a few minutes ago."

"I heard you tossing and turning," Kagome grinned the acrobat turn red in the face. "I say, InuYasha, you're getting a bit fat. Was that why the floor was shuddering?"

"Shut up, wench," any sentimental feelings for the woman in front of him were gone now. "At least I'm not the one being pampered like a princess. Why, you're just like that idiot in the Princess and the Pea fairytale!"

"Tell me that story; I'm not the one who remembers fairytales. Was it romantic?" Kagome teased, pulling a face. Her expression suddenly changed to a solemn one. "I actually decided to join you because I wanted to sort some things out between the two of us. In private." InuYasha gulped; this was the part he had looked forward to the least.

"First of all…was that metal writing really yours?" Kagome asked quietly. "It seems strange…that it got to me, of all people. And, you know, it almost convinced me that I wanted to go with you to Hawaii." Kagome was glad for the darkness; InuYasha would've seen her blush.

"Well…I guess so," InuYasha answered. "The way that thing floated out the window, anybody could have caught it."

"Yeah, it's really light, isn't it?" Kagome laughed, and then went on. "I wonder where that metal came from?"

"I have no idea, it just appeared from nowhere," InuYasha replied.

"And from this evening…do you really love me?" Kagome asked, fearing the answer. Somehow she couldn't help staring at the acrobat's thoughtful look. He looked so good like that, with his mouth slightly open and his hair blowing with the wind.

Why did she have to ask now? InuYasha fought a fierce battle in his mind. She had saved his life, and he had done nothing about it! But she was a woman who was extremely disagreeable and mean and…fun-loving and cute. Where'd that come from? InuYasha mentally beat his head before stealing a quick, side-long glance at her. Kagome's raven black hair blew about her face, emphasizing her creamy, pale skin and dark eyes. Her lips were curved in a slight smile, a smile which warmed his heart. He had failed to save Kagome's life, had felt guilty about it, never done anything to make her feel good, and yet she had never shunned him about it. Finally, his decision was made.

"Y-yes, but I can never be with you. I've never treated you right…" InuYasha couldn't believe that these things were pouring out of his mouth. But Kagome had made him feel everything: sadness, laughter, joy, happiness, anger. And yet he was giving her away. Why? Because I'm irresponsible, the acrobat thought bitterly. Because I'll never be able to repay her in her kindness.

"InuYasha," Kagome's firmness of voice put the demon out of his thoughts. "What do you mean? To be honest, it's been fun around you. There's never been a dull moment…and all those arguments? I hate to admit it, Sango was right. But looking back…all those quarrels seemed more like, like…lovers' quarrels. Petty, but fun. I love you too."

"That may seem enough, but what if Naraku comes back from the dead? What if you die again? Miroku isn't always going to be there for you," InuYasha said, exasperated. When would this wench understand?

"Then I'll be by your side, helping you and encouraging you," Kagome said strongly. "And that's that, InuYasha."

The two turned to face each other. The atmosphere suddenly seemed tense, and the two only had eyes for each other. Then, leaning forward, InuYasha closed the space between them and kissed Kagome.

"Okay lovebirds, time to break up, you've got company," a voice said, and giggling followed. Growling, InuYasha pulled away and glared at Sesshomaru and Kikyo, who were peering at them from the door at a safe distance (which was wise).

"K-Kikyo," Kagome stammered. "How long h-have you been there?"

"Since InuYasha said something about Naraku coming back from the dead, but he won't be," Kikyo smirked as Kagome blushed. "Not for a while, anyways."

"And what are you doing up, Fluffy?" InuYasha teased his brother, who was fuming. "If you were the one who heard us, why did you bother waking Kikyo up as well?"

"Oh, he didn't wake up, darling. But we did have a little moment of our own…" Kikyo grinned slyly, as if hiding a secret, and placed her arms around Sesshomaru's waist. "Just that you weren't there to see." InuYasha flinched at the word 'darling', but grinned when his brother shifted uncomfortably at his new position.

"Well, if you had your moment, why don't you let InuYasha and I have ours?" Kagome smiled sweetly.

"Whatever you say," Kikyo replied. "Just make sure you've got everything you need; we're leaving tomorrow, you must remember."

"Yup," Kagome said quickly before shooing the intruders out. Turning back to face InuYasha, she inquired cheekily, "Now, where were we?"

"I think I know just exactly where," InuYasha grinned, and kissed Kagome passionately. When they pulled away, Kagome said, "I'm glad I came with you to Hawaii now. I don't regret a moment of it."

"I know, I'm just that good," InuYasha jogged away, laughing as Kagome followed him, shaking her head and muttering to herself, "I always knew that that man was trouble."

End

A/N: And that concludes the end of a fanfic…thanks for reading! Please review!