Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any nursery rhymes.

The Mother Goose Escapades

No. 50

Come to the window,

my baby, with me,

and look at the stars

that shine on the sea!

There are two little stars

that play bo-peep

with two little fish

far down in the deep;

and two little frogs

cry "neap, neap, neap";

I see a dear baby

that should be asleep.

With a start, Kagome jerked awake, eyes flying wide open. For a moment she lay motionless, half wondering what exactly had happened. Then she slipped out from under the bed covers and walked over to the window. The full moon shed its silvery light out over the shrine and she smiled at the comforting sight. If she twisted her head slightly, she could see the stars pinning back the sky, little jewels that invited wishes.

"You ok?" The rough voice soothed her, and Kagome turned to smile at the man who now stood beside her.

"I didn't mean to wake you," she said softly.

"I'm a little sensitive to you," he responded just as softly. "You ok?"

"Yeah." Kagome looked back out the window. "I was just dreaming, you know? Of long ago, back when I was a young girl."

"Oh yeah?" His lazy voice invited her to continue. She leaned back into him and sighed contentedly as his arms wrapped around her frame.

"Yeah. All sorts of crazy adventures, the kind no one would ever believe today. I still feel like I'm in that dual existence and nothing has changed, even though its been..."

"Fifteen years, for you," he finished the sentence for her. She smiled up at him again.

"I forget sometimes, how long it's been for you." He looked down, catching her gaze with his golden one.

"Five hundred years is a long time," he muttered. Kagome giggled a bit, much like in her schoolgirl days.

"I was dreaming about my last day there," she finally admitted, leaning her head against his chest and closing her eyes.

--

Kagome stood by the well, trying her best not to cry. She had said her goodbyes to Shippou, Sango and Miroku, who was nursing a broken arm after the fight. Sango was in worse condition, something was wrong with her leg, but they were both alive, for which Kagome felt eternally greatful. And now, all that was left was Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha," she said softly and he raised his head to look at her. "You know I love you."

"Doesn't make it any easier," he said, almost snarling. "It'll probably be something like days for you, but I have to wait five hundred years. Kagome, can you even fathom how long that is?"

"I know it's a long time, Inuyasha." Kagome sat down heavily against the lip of the well and stared morosely at the ground. Around her neck hung the completed Shikon Jewel, winking in the sun. Inuyasha approached her, she watched his feet come nearer.

"I didn't tell you, because I was worried about you before," he began, his voice rough like when he was about to say something meaningful, "but I was impressed by what you did." Kagome raised her head, her gaze meeting his golden one.

"I wasn't even aware of what I was doing," she admitted. "But when he had you by the throat, and even Sesshoumaru couldn't get to you, what was I supposed to do? Let you die?"

"How did you get that much power?" he questioned. Kagome shrugged.

"I don't know, it just came, like it was always there all along."

"Still, you started everything by breaking the jewel with an arrow...and you ended it with the arrow as well." Kagome looked up, intending to make some retort about the comment, but the look in his eyes stopped her. "Kagome, I..." he couldn't finish what he was saying and instead leaned down, eyes hooded. Realizing he was going to kiss her, Kagome eagerly leaned up, but somehow managed to lose her balance and flew back into the well.

"Inuyasha!" she cried out, panicked, stretching her hands up. "I changed my mind, I don't want to leave you!" But it was too late, the warm glow was surrounding her and his voice was fading. She closed her eyes as tears flew out, yelling, "INUYASHA!" When she felt the cold of the well house, she opened her eyes, climbed out of the well and jumped back in.

But nothing happened. Kagome curled up at the bottom and cried her heart out, the Jewel heavy around her neck.

--

"I thought you had died when you killed Naraku," Inuyasha murmured in her ear. "You just collapsed there on the ground."

"Never used that much power before, that's all. Anyway, I thought he had already killed you before I could stop him," Kagome answered. Inuyasha laughed.

"Not a chance, there's no way he would have been able to ever kill me!"

"Hush, you'll wake the babies!" Kagome said, but Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Our darling twins are nine years old," he said mockingly. Kagome slapped him lightly.

"Sometimes I wish I had left that rosary on you," she teased.

"I promise you, nothing was a better wedding present than that!" he hurriedly said. They laughed together and he tugged her hand, pulling her back to bed. "You're tired, and Souta's coming over with his new family tomorrow," he said.

"I know," Kagome sighed, allowing him to lead her. Inuyasha kissed her before crawling in beside her. "Sango and Miroku would've been happy to see us like this," she said.

"Yeah. Too bad things turned out the way they did for them," Inuyasha answered, his voice already sounding sleepy.

"To think Sango died in childbirth..." Kagome trailed off.

"But Miroku had his son, and I made sure the boy wasn't a lech in training," Inuyasha mumbled. "To be honest, I think Sango was only half there ever since finding out Kohaku truly had died. He was her last link."

"I know," Kagome sighed. She snuggled into Inuyasha's embrace. "You never did tell me what happened to Sesshoumaru."

"Don't know," Inuyasha responded. "He disappeared for a long time after that battle with Naraku. When I saw him later, that little girl wasn't around anymore. He told me she returned to where she belonged, whatever that meant."

"Maybe he's around here somewhere," Kagome said, yawning.

"Probably," Inuyasha answered. "He's too stubborn to have ever died." He squeezed Kagome to himself. "You never told me what wish you made on the jewel," he whispered in her ear.

"That because you're not supposed to tell wishes," Kagome responded. "Anyway, I feel nostalgic as usual. Let's look for reincarnations and your brother soon."

"Alright," Inuyasha sleepily agreed. Time had mellowed him somewhat. And then finally, the two souls who had long sought each other, curled up together and fell asleep.

I only wished for our love story to never end, was Kagome's last thought.

Author's Notes: Well, there's the end, as happy as I think it can be given, you know, the story line.

Wow everyone, it's been a wonderful run, and I would like to take the time to thank you all for your great support. Most notably, thank you to wolfygirl13, skiff of haven, Tamakia'gss, Rayvn-Amre, lilshortydudette, Moomoogirl1, IvyLady, and Rambie. Thanks also to frodoschick, vampire911, Kayrie, Kitsune Kit, i-luv-the-cat-sohma52, all the emos are kool, PrincessTutu51116, Katsheswims, Whitetigermisty, iwantmycoffeenow, darkener14 and icetea17. I also want to thank all those who read but didn't review, and I would like to thank those who continue to read this after this final posting.

All of you are the reason I enjoy writing! Thank you very much! I hope to see you in any future stories!