Forever

-Chapter one-

Sengoku Jidai

Under Goshinboku, the tree that once kept a hanyou clung in its vines, that same hanyou was sitting down next to a black-haired girl in a green fuku. He kept her hands in his, softly striking them with his thumbs. His eyes were sad and she had a few teardrops in hers.

"Inuyasha, you know how I feel about you…"

"Kagome…"

"Demo… I've got my own world to be in. And now that Naraku's gone your world is safe. I've got the Jewel and it will be passed, after my death, to the next reincarnation and she will find you. I will find you…"

"Demo…"

"Hush now… Don't you wish eternal happiness? I'll seal you back to the tree and I'll come back… I promise!"

"Kagome…"

That moment, he sprung off his place and hugged her tight.

"Don't forget me…"

"I won't…"

They kissed and then he leaned his back against the tree. She reached for her Fuin no ya, aimed and shot. He gazed at her, smiled, and then fell into slumber. But he didn't breathe, nor did he move.

Present, year 2005

Kagome got out of the well and look back with a sad smile on her face. She then pulled herself together and she ran into the house.

"Tadaima! I'm home! Mamma! Jii-chan! Souta!"

"Kagome!" answered her mother and her grandfather.

"Where's Souta?"

"He's at school. Would you like something to eat?"

"Iya, doumo. I think I'll pick up Souta from school. After all, it's been a while since I've last done that…"

"Fine, only don't fall asleep on your way back!"

"OK. Bye!"

She left the house running, as she didn't want to answer any questions, at least not now. She was soon across the street from his school. Just then, he went out the door.

"Kagome!" he yelled happily and, without thinking, he crossed the street in a hurry.

"Souta, don't!" Kagome ran towards her brother and pushed him away from the speeding bus, saving his life. But it was too late for her…

40 days later

"Congratulations! You have a little girl!"

"Let me hold her" said the exhausted woman.

"Did you pick out a name for her?"

"Yes. Her name is Midori, after her great-grandmother…" answered the woman smiling.

-Chapter two-

Year 2021

Midori had grown to be a beautiful girl. She had amazing hair, due to the fact that her ancestors were of various cultures and civilizations. It had shades of chocolate, fair and copper. Her eyes were hazel-green.

She was a high-school student and she wasn't very good at precise sciences, like Math, Physics or Chemistry. In fact, she wasn't good at any kind of chemistry, as she never had a boyfriend.

There were nights in which she couldn't close her eyes, as she felt like something was missing. And more than once, she felt like she was meant to be somewhere else…

Now, she is coming home from school in a crammed bus, as usual. She just wished she were home and the time were 8.30 p.m. to watch her series… an anime series that is about a hanyou named Inuyasha. It was weird for someone her age to watch such a thing, but she didn't care. Her best friend, Diane, also watched anime and, anyway, she didn't need anyone's approval or something like that. Even so, she still felt a little bit strange when her desk-mate, Annie, made fun of this (she wished she'd never told her, they weren't close friends anyway!).

'Oh, I hate this! I don't have anything in my whole darn life… I don't have a purpose in life. All I do is go to school, come back home, watch Inuyasha (this thought made her smile slightly, but she then turned sad again), then do homework, go to bed, wake up and take it all over again. This stinks! Ouch… These people are crushing me in here! Can't they see that there's no more room? Why do they still push themselves in when there's no more space left? I just want… I want to be somewhere nice, somewhere like the Sengoku Jidai… (She starts feeling dizzy and breathes harder) with Inu…yasha (She has a strange feeling in her chest, pounding to come out) Oh… my… Goood…' She falls and crushes into something hard.

'Mmm…Oh, my head aches… Where am I? I… I was in… in the bus. How'd I end up in this hole? Is this a dream or a sick joke or-or something like that?' she thought.

"Hello…! Anybody out there…? Please, somebody, just say something!"

'What was that feeling? It was like my body was numb and all I could hear were my heartbeats and my breath… And then, all was cold and damp… Then, I was here, wherever this is! I might as well get out of here. Good thing these walls are easy to climb on…'

When she reached the surface, the sunlight got into her eyes.

'It's so nice… I must be dreaming! And the air is so fresh! No dust, no pollution, no nothing!' She sighed. 'Maybe I died and gone to Heaven!' She looked back at the hole. 'God, I was in a well? Just like Kagome… Who Knows, maybe everybody gets their own Heaven!'

She sat on the grass with her eyes closed, feeling the sunbeams on her face. Then, she felt something calling her. She got up and walked sure on her steps, guided by the unseen force. And then she felt it no more.

'I must be going crazy… Wait! What if I'm not dead and I am in a coma? This thing that was guiding me could have been… my will to wake up! Bah, how stupid is that? Even I can't believe myself…'

She was now next to a great tree. The wind started blowing and it sounded like whispers through the leaves of the great tree.

"What are you trying to tell me…? Idiot! You're speaking to trees now!"

She placed her hand on the tree's vines and gently moved her hand on them as she started circling the tree. Then, she saw a red cloth under the thick vines.

'Wonder what that could be…'

She tried pulling the vines away, but it was no use. She was still too weak to tear them after what had happened to her.

'And here's the result of skipping Sports class! Well done, Mariko! Ugh!'

"I need something sharp…"She started looking for a rock. "That should do the trick!"

She returned to the tree and started scratching the vines. The rock only left poor marks on them.

'Doesn't matter! I'm not going anywhere, so I've got time… And nothing lasts forever, so they'll tear up eventually!'

An hour later, she was sitting in front of the tree, looking at the place where she cut the vines. She had a frightened look upon her face.

'This can't be happening! It isn't real! It's just a story. He's… Bogus! Yet, when I touched him, after I cut the vines, he felt so real…'

She got up and slowly walked towards him. She reached out her right arm and touched his face, his silver hair; she smiled when she touched his ears. Then, she left her hand slide down to his shoulder, smoothly striking his hair on its way. From there, it slipped to his chest and then along the arrow. It stopped, grabbed it and pulled it slowly, but confident, out of its place.

She took one step back as his chest filled with air. The air was left out of his lungs with a deep sigh. Midori left herself fall on the ground as his eyelids started to move. He opened his eyes.

"Inu…yasha…?"

"Kagome…?"

He left himself down next to her, leaning against the tree's trunk. He had his head bowed. When he raised it, she could see tears in his eyes. Without a sign, he hugged her and whispered to her ear:

"I missed you. I knew you'd come back…"

"Wait! I don't have a clue hat you're saying! I'm not her… I'm Midori and I'm not even from here. I want to go back…Pease?"

She was trembling and seeing her like that made him feel sad.

'She knows my name, yet she doesn't remember anything else. And she speaks in a funny language. I'd better take her to the village. How long has it been? Can the others still be alive?'

He got up, took her by the sleeve and pulled her up. He held her like that all the way to Kaede's place, in the village.

"Oi, Kaede-baa-chan…?"

"Inuyasha! Why are ye awake? It's only been a month or so…"

'Huh… Kagome died so soon… Why?' he thought. "I think she is the reincarnation of Kagome" he said to Kaede. "She woke me up. She knows my name, but doesn't seem to know anything else about me. She also speaks a weird language… Where are the rest?"

"Miroku and Sango are living in a hut at the other side of the village. Shippo and Kirara are there, too."

"Good. I'll go see them now. You take care of her meanwhile."

Inuyasha turned his look o the girl, with a sad smile on his face. Then, he turned around and got out of the hut. The old woman smiled, and said while bowing:

"Hello, I'm Kaede-sama. Who might ye be?"

"Uhm, you see… I don't really understand what you're saying, but I know your name. You're a miko", she said, pointing at the Shinto priestess.

"Hai. Namae wa Kaede."

"Ok... Um, namae wa Midori-chan."

"Nice to meet ye. Why do ye speak using such strange words?"

Mariko raised her shoulders with a helpless look upon her face.

"Don't ye understand what I'm saying, girl?"

She raised her shoulders again. The girl started to fel sleepy and she yawned, placng her hand in front of her mouth. Then, she thought it might be rude to yawn in the presence of an old woman, who happened to be a wise miko, as well.

"Gomen ne, gomen ne!" she startled.

"Shigata ga nai. Here, come and sleep." Said the miko, pointing to a fouton on the floor, in a corner. Then, she left.

'I might as well use that. Ugh... Hard floor, hard floor! Too hard for my spine... Where's my bed? Oh, bed, bed, bed!'

Then, she fell asleep.

-Chapter three-

"Inuyasha, what are you doing awake?" both Miroku and Sango asked.

"Keh! Can't a hanyou wake up without everybody asking him that? What, are you upset that I've come back? Do you think I'll ruin your honeymoon?"

That moment, Sango turned red. Miroku explained:

"Actually, we're not married. We're just living together…"

Now they all turned red. It wasn't normal in that time for a man and a woman to live together without being married. (a.n. Or if she's his concubine, but I highly doubt that Sango would accept that title!)

"Well, we're not alone. We have Shippo and Kirara with us, but we still have plenty of special moments to enjoy…if you know what I mean…"

"Shut up, Miroku! I don't want to picture the two of you like that!"

Sango got to her senses and asked:

"Where's Kagome? Why isn't she with you?"

"It wasn't Kagome who woke me up…"

"So… she's gone? That's it!"

"Think so. The worst part is the girl doesn't remember anything between me and Kagome…"

Inuyasha told them the story.

"Maybe she's not from Japan" said Miroku.

"Oh, darling, then how could she have got into the well in the first place?"

"Maybe she doesn't need the well. She might have a greater spiritual power than Kagome. After all, Kagome proved to be more powerful than Kikyo, remember?"

"Huhhhh… I'm going back to Kaede's."

"We'll come there soon, right after Shippo and Kirara come home. We'd really like to meet her, so don't go sending her home or anything!"

"No, I didn't even think about that…"

He turned around and left, walking with heavy steps.

"He's changed", said Sango. "He's worried and sad. He must think he's lost her…"

"I feel sorry for him. I hope she'll come to her senses!"

Inuyasha met Kaede on his was to the hut.

"Her name is Midori. She only knows a few words in Japanese. She is in my house now."

"Doumo." He went on with his way.

Entering the hut, he was surprised to see the girl sleeping. He sat down next to her futon, with his back leaning against the wall. He looked at her.

'She smells a little like Kagome, demo… she's more frightened than Kagome was when she first came here. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps…' He reached out and took her hand in his. That moment, she opened her eyes:

"Inuyasha?"

"Hai."

"Namae wa Midori. Please, take me back to my time. I don't belong here…"

He smiled at her and held her hand tighter. Only then she realized he was holding her hand. She blushed and slipped it out of his hand. Then, she cuddled in the corner as further as possible from him, avoiding looking him in the eyes.

That moment, the others came in. Shippo jumped on her knees.

"Hello, Midori!" said the kitsune.

"Get away!" she screamed, jumping on her feet in an instance. "You are not real! This is just a dream! I don't know what's happening to me…" Tears started pouring on her cheeks as she panted. Then, she pushed Miroku out of the doorway and started running to the well. Inuyasha ran after her.

"Kagome, wait! Chotto matte kudasai!"

She stopped next to the well, trembling.

"I'm not Kagome, stupid! Iye Kagome, baka!"

He took her into his arms and held her so until she pushed him away. She turned to the well.

"Ja ne, Inuyasha…" she whispered before jumping into the well with her eyes closed.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in the bus, just like before.

'Just my imagination...' As that thought crossed her mind, she saw a long stray of silver hair on her hand.

'Inu…yasha…'