Chapter 18

Whew! I can't believe I managed to get all this out of the well! I mean, there's got to be over fifty pounds of supplies here... mostly ramen and pocky. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces! Kagome drew in a deep breath of fresh air. Sweet, unpolluted air! I love it here so much... Well! Time to go see everyone, and hope that Inuyasha wants this too! Kagome threw her other leg over the lip of the well, only to be confronted by a farmiliar face.

"Ka-Ka-Kagome?" Inuyasha stammered. Is this real? Can it... can it be true? She's here... she came back... Inuyasha wasted no time in throwing his arms around her. If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up! Reality without Kagome just isn't worth it anymore!

"Inuyasha! I missed you too!" Kagome chirped. It's so good to see him...

"You... you're here!" he cried as he buried his face into her hair. I can't believe it... this... can it be real? Or am I dreaming again?

"I'm here, Inuyasha." Kagome sighed. "I... I hope it's okay."

"Of course it's okay." Inuyasha breathed as he took a deep breath, inhaling her smell. I missed this...

"Inuyasha? I really need to talk to you and the group... but... I also just really have to talk to you. So... so could we go for a walk? I need to go over a few things with you." Kagome said. Inuyasha nodded.

They had made their way to the edge of the hot springs. Inuyasha noticed that Kagome sat down, dipping her feet in the water. Inuyasha sat down beside her, arms and legs crossed as usual.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?" Inuyasha asked. Please let it not be about what I said before I left... it was embarressing enough to say those words enough the first time...

"I... I had to use the jewel to come back, Inuyasha. So, the jewel is here in this era with me." Kagome held out the jewel in her palm. "So the well is sealed for good now. Even with the jewel it cannot be unsealed... because I wished for the well to close forever, even if this jewel was used to open it. So it should remain sealed. I hope that's okay." Kagome smiled sweetly.

"You... you left your family to come here and live with us?" Inuyasha asked, shocked. Kagome shook her head.

"First of all, my family and I both decided that I should be here. Secondly, I didn't leave them to be with you guys, I... I left them to be with you." she whispered the last part. Inuyasha's ears twitched back and forth in a frenzy.

"You left them to be with me?" Inuyasha managed to say. She... she really does love me...

"Of course, you silly boy!" she laughed as she scratched behind one of his ears. Inuyasha leaned his head into her hand and growled happily. "And you know exactly why, too!" she said. Inuyasha's cheeks blazed red.

"Yeah." he smiled. I want to tell her how I feel again... only this time... I want to be able to see her reaction. "Kagome, I-"

"I brought you a few things!" Kagome interrupted. "Oh, i'm sorry- what were you saying?"

"Nothing. Go on." Inuyasha grinned. He liked getting things. It usually meant ramen.

"Now, I bought a lot of ramen, but Inuyasha- you realize that once this is gone, I can't go back for any more." Kagome said. Inuyasha's ears pinned back against his head.

"Fine. As long as that means you can stay." he concluded. Kagome smiled.

"I also bought a lot of pocky for everyone, and I brought a few bags of chips and some cans of soda too." she said. "I brought everything I need to settle down here in the feudal era. I have an idea, Inuyasha!" she clapped her hands together. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"Which is?"

"We start a youkai-extermination group! You know, to help clean up the mess Naraku left behind! We could build some huts to live in back at Kaede's village, and travel together, killing youkai!" Kagome said excitedly. Inuyasha looked at her with amusement. She looks so happy.

"Keh! Sounds alright." he said, trying not to show that he really, really liked the idea. He liked the idea of settling down and living with Kagome.

"I... I got you a present." she blushed. Inuyasha's memories flashed back to the day that he had given Kikyo a present- the rouge that was once his mother's- and she had meant to give him the prayer beads in return, but hadn't. Inuyasha smiled. My first real, non-threatening gift! Kagome pulled a medium-sized box out of her yellow backpack and handed it to Inuyasha. "I hope you like it." she said hopefully. The box was labelled To: Inuyasha. Inuyasha carefully lifted the lid, only to find tissue paper.

"Keh! What is this stuff?" he asked. Kagome laughed.

"It hides the present so that it makes you more anxious to get it!"

"You and your strange era." he muttered as he promptly sliced through the paper, careful so as not to slice the gift within. Underneath the paper was his gift. Inuyasha gasped when he saw it. Wow... I wonder... where did she find something like this? Inuyasha set the box down on the ground and threw his arms around Kagome. "Thank you." he whispered. He picked up the box again and admired the jewel within. I wonder... "Kagome, is this what I think it is?" Kagome smiled and nodded.

"I went to an old antique store near my house. I remembered that they had old jewels, and I went to check them out. The little booklet said that this jewel was rumored to have strange powers, like the ability to travel to the realm of the dead, and that it never expired like your black pearl. Of course, everyone thought it was fictional, but I knew that it was the real deal. You can use this to go visit your father any time you want... you can visit where your sword was born." Kagome smiled. "I hope you like it." Inuyasha held the jewel in his shaking hands. Over the past while, he had gained a deep respect for his father, and wanted so much to pay his respects. Now, he could. Inuyasha put the jewel back in the box.

"Thank you, so much..."

"Hey! That's not all! Look at what's in the bottom!" Kagome said. "The box would have been smaller if it was just the jewel." she scoffed. Inuyasha smiled, and looked back into the box. He pulled out a scroll.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Read it." she whispered. Inuyasha looked at it. This... this can't be...

"My family's heritage..." he whispered. Kagome nodded.

"It shows your family bloodline. It seems that your mother, since she was human, wrote down the heritage, and it was passed down through some of the humans from her birth village. They kept updating it, watching your family from afar. I bought this at the antique store too. Look closely." she mentioned. Inuyasha scanned down from his mother's name and found his own.

"I had a family... i'm going to have a family..." Inuyasha whispered. Kagome cracked a smile. "Who was the mother of my children?" he asked. "The name was smudged." Kagome frowned.

"No one was able to help me with that, but i'm sure that someday you'll know!" she smiled. I hope it's me...

I hope it's Kagome... Both of them blushed deeply as they looked at one another.

"Why don't we take it to Myoga? He's full of useless knowledge. Maybe he can fix the smudge." Inuyasha suggested. Kagome nodded.

"How do we find him though?" she asked.

"Did someone call for me?" Myoga asked as he bit onto Inuyasha's nose. Inuyasha quickly deflated the demon flea. "I've been hanging on to Master Inuyasha in secret for a while. Totosai wanted to see how Tetsaiga was."

"Yo, Myoga. Can you read the name here?" he showed the flea the scroll. Myoga took a close look at the scroll.

"Master Inuyasha, you won't like this..." he said. Since he was small, he could see the weaves in the paper clearly enough to see what had been written there.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The name that is written..." Myoga said, "Is Kikyo."