Well I've managed to update pretty quickly, though in the mean time ff(.)net seems to be getting more and more oppressive. First they told people not to put up chapters just for review responses and to use the time before or after a chapter and now they're telling us we can't do that. Well what about those anonymous reviews? I get some constant ones and I don't feel like telling people they have to register just to hear back from me. Besides I'm not going to reply to 20 people just because all of them couldn't understand that Tai was 3/4 human (previous issue, just using it as an example). Technically none of this is covered in their TOS. It says I have to obey their rules but I haven't seen one page yet that is dedicated to rules, so are they trying to tell me that there are none? Besides removing characters from my story without my permission, that doesn't sound totally right (if it's even legal). I'm done ranting.
Back on topic, there will be no more "Review Responses." There will be "Author Notes." This are statements made to all general readers, if you left a review something I say might in my notes pertain to it, it might not.
AN 1: The original title - I left it open last chapter for you to guess the original title of this story. By the time the first guess was made, I realized I should have given you more hints. I should have at least mentioned that Wish was not one of the two words that made up the title. I had given up thinking that anyone would guess it, cause everyone was using Wish. Then along came jon58840 and he totally blew me out of the water by being correct. Do I know you in reality, jon? Otherwise how did you know? His guess was correct. The original title of A Wish from the Heart was plain and simple Loved Ones. Thanks to jon58840, maroongoddess, and DL and IY-luver for playing a fun game of trivia.
AN 2: The Tetsusaiga - Okay most people have been kind to point out that the Tetsusaiga has more than just the Wind Scar and Backlash Wave (not counting my own and using simple English names). I want to make it clear now, I know of the barrier breaking "Red" Tetsusaiga. That I was fully aware of as I was writing the story. I see that though as an ability and not an attack. As for the other one, the crystal one (I don't feel like looking up the name of it), I was not aware of it when publishing this story, technically I don't think they had even reached that point in the anime when I started writing this story. I've just kinda decided to use my (home-made) artistic license (and my bout of delusion) to kind of ignore the attack. I know its cool but I really didn't want to be throwing off the story too much. Maybe if I go back and revise the story some time I'll make room for the other official attack. Btw, thanks for the interesting timeline jon. And yes there is a Dragon-Scaled Tetsusaiga but to see it you have to read the manga.
AN 3: Inuyasha OOC - (This comment goes out to all but also to warlord2005, who specifically asked for a response but since he reviewed anonymously (not your fault) by ff(.)net's policy I can't reply to directly) - Okay many people have thought IY at times acted out of character and I will admit this did occur sometimes in earlier chapters but I don't think this argument holds 100 percent true now. I have definitely tried to show IY growing over time. If you go back to the beginning of the anime, you'll notice he's not exactly the same from later on. As time goes on, IY becomes more and more open to those around him. He does also manage to use his head quite a few times. So if you start to apply that to my story, the group defeats Naraku approximately 3 years after the start of the anime, giving IY quite a bit of time to grow. Then you have the effect of his parents, Midoriko passing him knowledge, and living in Kagome's time. By the time you reach his fight with Kitiara, I think it would be safe to say he starts using his head a bit more wisely. Heck I know my school at least tried to make me think for myself. After that more time goes by. When we finally reach the dispute between Kouga and Kagura, five more years have gone by and IY's life has been pretty peaceful, giving him more than enough time to reflect on many things. Now IY may not be a Harvard lawyer but I don't think you have to be to dissolve the dispute. Also as you'll see in this chapter, IY has done even more think (maybe that's why I smelled smoke). Besides, in the last chapter, I don't think I could have seen Kagome saying "Okay, Kagura will die." Just not Kagome's style.
Well now that my Author Notes are done. We can get down to the story. Contrary to my own thinking, this chapter turned out longer than I expected (just like this whole damn story). and let me remind everyone there has been no point in this life (or any previous ones I've had) that I ever owned IY. BTW, have a nice Thanksgiving.
A Wish From the Heart (formally known as Loved Ones)
Epilogue – Part 1: The Past and The Present
Inuyasha stood outside his home as guests came. For some it had only been a couple months, but others it had been years. Though as they came together, it seems as only days. Inuyasha's parents had been one of the first to arrive. Inuyasha spent quite a bit of time explaining the Cerberus incident to his father. The former lord had been glad to hear that his sons had actually mange to get along and fight together. Izayoi spent her time talking with Kagome about various things.
Next to arrive was Miroku and Sango's family as well as their own little family. Since returning Kohaku to Sango and the others approximately five months ago, Sango and Miroku's son, Genji, was born. While the child has gotten much attention from Sango and others, it has been nothing compared to how much time Miroku has spent with him.
Next to show up had been Shippo and his family. Kagome had especially welcomed the kitsune cub with open arms. They could both see that he had grown up since they last saw him. He was started to get a bit taller and also stronger. Inuyasha joked with him but he could sense the kitsune had probably being doing some sort of training. Inuyasha figured this was probably to make sure history didn't repeat itself.
Even as Kagome entertained everyone in the house, Inuyasha stood outside waiting for the final group to show up. He wasn't even sure if they would but he kept his hopes high. Though it was almost an hour after the other groups had shown, Inuyasha could see the final set approaching. Rin waved her hand at Inuyasha as they approached. She had a smile of anticipation on her face.
"The others are inside. Go ahead and join them," he told Rin, though he knew she was only looking for one person. He then turned to the other two, "Took you long enough."
"Don't even start," Kagura warned. "Blame on Mr. Stoic Face here. He didn't want to come but I made him since I knew Rin wanted to. Besides, if I'm coming I'm sure as hell going to drag him along."
"There was no dragging necessary," Sesshoumaru said. "And I don't exactly recall saying that I didn't want to go."
"Yeah but you sure weren't in any bit of a hurry to come either," Kagura said.
"Okay okay, that's enough," Inuyasha said before thinking, "I have no idea how you two are going to manage to put up with one another."
Kagura got a serious look on her face then, "other than Rin, I wouldn't have come. I don't even belong here."
"That's nonsense," a new voice said. Everyone turned to see Inutaisho standing looking at them. "This is a feast to gather to rejoice for fun and remind everyone that your enemy, Naraku, is gone. Are you sad that he's gone?"
"Hell no," Kagura said pointedly.
"That's Kagura for you, doesn't care who you are, she'll tell you exactly what's on her mind," Inuyasha thought.
"Then that's exactly why your welcome," the Inu taiyoukai said. "Well that and because you're the only woman whose gotten that close to my son. As far as I'm concerned, you're as good as family."
Kagura had no quick retort that time. She looked to the ground to hide her face turning red, "I think I'll go check on Rin." With that she left quickly so as to not get embarrassed again.
"Father, I apologize for Kagura's informal tone towards you…" Sesshoumaru said.
"There's no need to apologies. She merely spoke her mind, albeit a bit loudly, but if that's what I have to put up with for you to get a mate, I have no problem," Inutaisho said which managed to silence his son. He then went inside to join the others.
That left Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru standing outside with almost no words between the brothers. The silence carried on for a while before, Inuyasha got bored. "Come on, let's go inside. I'm getting hungry."
Before Sesshoumaru moved though he decided to talk further, "I have thought it over and though I do not like it, I will honor the debt which I owe you."
"You mean the one for saving your butt against Cerberus?" Inuyasha asked. His half brother nodded in confirmation. "No problem, like I said, I'll come calling in about two hundred years, so don't forget." With that the brothers walked inside to join the others in the feast.
&&&&& 200 years later &&&&&
Kagome walked outside of house, which she had shared with her mate of two centuries. As she looked around, she was still grateful to her friends and family. They had built the wonderful mansion size home as a sort of wedding present. As she looked around, she allowed herself to take in the beauty around her. The forest and the land around their house was still so stunning. She had seen in other areas, the clearing of land as population increased. She was a bit sad, since she knew how much of the forest was still going to disappear yet, but that didn't stop her from enjoying it while it was still there.
Kagome was literally shaken out of her thoughts by a small little girl at her knees. "Is lunch almost ready, mommy?" the girl asked.
"Yes, it is Maya. I was just about to let everyone know," Kagome told her youngest child. Maya was just over 45 years old but by demon years it seemed like 5. (Realize if you don't count 50 years tied to the tree, Inuyasha is 150 when he meets Kagome and he looks about her age, which would make him roughly 15-16, so 1 demon year per 10 human years. Don't think about this too much, I'm not going to strictly adhere to it anyway)
Kagome turned to her daughter, "You might want to go inside and eat," Kagome advised her child.
"Okay mommy," Maya said as she ran into the house for food.
Kagome then turned toward the forest and took a deep breath, "LUNCH IS READY!" she yelled out. She may have doubted whether anyone heard her but in a few seconds she could she her son rushing towards the house at full speed.
He almost wasn't able to stop when he reached his mother. Not even taking the time to catch his breath, he looked around for anyone else. "I beat them, I beat them both," he cheered to himself.
The boy was soon joined by another girl, slightly older than him. "Don't even start. The only reason you beat me was because you tripped me at the start. I'd have beaten you here by a mile otherwise."
"Don't blame me just because your clumsy," he responded.
Kagome could see the a fight brewing. "Reia, Hiko, enough!" Kagome said to them in a slightly raised voice. If she didn't they wouldn't even hear her and they'd start fighting. "It's time to eat, inside."
As they went inside, Inuyasha was at the table to greet them, "What took you two so long?" he asked as he picked at his food. Both of the kids groaned. He had still managed to beat them both.
"You two didn't actually think you'd beat your father in a race, did you?" Kagome asked with a small laugh. Neither child answered the obvious question as they sat at the table and joined everyone else in eating. While eating, Kagome looked around the table as she had a habit of doing. Before meeting Inuyasha, she never would have guess she would have been blessed with such a wonderful family. The oldest child, Reia, was about 13 ½ old in demon years, while Hiko was about 12. Both of them had short silver hair just like their father minus the length. This trait showed even more in the way they acted, both took after their father, competitive about everything. It didn't matter what the subject was, they fought over who was better. Maya on the other hand was the exact opposite, she had long black hair with silver tips at the end. It was something that baffled Kagome, she would give Maya a hair cut and in a few days the tips of her all black hair would be silver. She didn't mind though, she thought it looked very good on her. The way Maya acted was also very different from her siblings. She took after her mother, she didn't really like to fight at all and she made it known that any fighting she did know she wanted to learn from her mother. That wasn't to say she didn't like her father, on the contrary, whenever she got the chance she was always hanging all over him. She was the youngest and tended to be spoiled a little.
Another reason Kagome didn't mind training Maya was that she sensed that her own miko abilities resided more in Maya than the other two children. Izayoi had been able to confirm this at their latest family reunion, which had been held just a few months ago. The families managed to get together every five years still, though this one hadn't gone over totally great. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru almost came to blows.
"Kagome, what's bothering you?" Inuyasha asked.
"Just thinking about the reunion," she said. He knew that she thought about it a bit.
"Don't worry about it. Though it took some convincing, Sesshoumaru remembered that he owed me," Inuyasha said with a smile, "It's not like I asked for his first-born."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome looked sternly at him.
"You know what I meant," Inuyasha said. "Anyway I have to go welcome our guest." Though Kagome heard no knock at the door, she knew Inuyasha could smell when visitors approach, so she let him go.
Inuyasha had just finished eating when he caught the scent of their guest. He opened the door just as the ten year old looking boy made it to the door. "Welcome, Tai." Inuyasha greeted his nephew.
"Good afternoon, Uncle Inuyasha," Tai said very solemnly. "I am here because my father made it apparent that I must, otherwise I would not be here."
Inuyasha just shuddered at the boy's tone of voice. It was bad enough Sesshoumaru was always emotionless but the boy being the same way. He couldn't figure out what Kagura managed to see in his brother. "Well I'm glad you came. You must be hungry, we were just having lunch," Inuyasha said as he welcomed Tai into the house.
"I'm not very hungry. Father said I would be coming to you for some training, though I do now know what you could teach me that he could not," Tai said still showing his disapproval of the situation.
"Can your dad tell me what you'll be doing in about 200 years?"
"He cannot foresee the future, yet it does not matter. I will choose what happens in my life, not some seer."
"Yet I know for a fact how things will turn out," Inuyasha thought. "Okay, can he teach you how to fully wield Tetsusaiga."
"There is no need for such a thing. Toukijin is far more powerful," Tai replied.
"That's where you are wrong. The power the sword can wield depends on the user. When it comes down to the power lying within the sword, your grandfather's power is greater than some detachment of Naraku." The kid still looked unimpressed at Inuyasha. If it hadn't been for the hair being black with streaks of silver, Inuyasha would have sworn he was having a staring contest with a chibi-Sesshoumaru. (for some reason the author finds this concept hilarious)
"Okay then, I challenge you," Inuyasha said.
"And what is your challenge, Uncle?" Tai asked.
"It would be better to call it a bet. If you can perform a small simple task, you won't have to undergo any training from me and you can leave right after doing it. If you can't, you have to grin and bear all of my training without any hassle. Do you accept?"
"For the chance to save myself the time of going to ridiculous training, I accept," Tai responded with total confidence.
"I want you to look at me and give me a real smile. Don't try to fake it, I'll be able to tell," Inuyasha said.
Tai looked at his half demon uncle in shock. He couldn't comprehend the task asked of him. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"It doesn't matter. You agreed to the deal. It was never stated whether the task had anything to do with the training or not. Now smile and leave, or don't and get comfortable."
"There is no reason to smile. To show emotion is to show weakness," Tai said as if he was quoting his father.
"And that is where you are wrong. To show your emotions to an enemy might show weakness but to not show emotions at all is to be weak within yourself," Inuyasha told the small kid. "In the normal human world, people who show no emotion at all tend to stand out, though not in a good way. In the future, you will need to blend in with humans and to do that you need to show a level of emotion. Over the next few years, you spend here you will not only learn how to use the Tetsusaiga but you will also learn more about yourself. Both the you now and the you, you must be in the future. In the future, your presence will be necessary but only if you are ready."
"Inuyasha, what's taking you so long," Kagome said as she came into the hallway. "Why, hello Tai. Why don't you join us for lunch?"
"I think I will. It seems I will be here for a while," Tai said as he walked towards the dining room. "Thank you, Aunt Kagome," he said showing respect as he had been taught.
"Lesson number one," Inuyasha said, "no more aunt and uncle. We're on a first name basis, got it?"
"Fine… Inuyasha," Tai said.
"How's it going?" Kagome asked Inuyasha as Tai joined his cousin's in eating.
"Well its going to take a while, but I think I can crack the shell he built around himself. Before you know it, he'll be acting like the Tai Azuma we remember."
"You may think its all fun, but you know your brother isn't going to be happy."
"Yeah I know," Inuyasha said with a grin. "Kagura will like it though. Hell, she was ready to pay me to do it, I just decided to turn her down."
Kagome just laughed. "Let's get back in there and make sure Reia and Hiko aren't choking," Kagome said remember a previous race to finish eating between the two. Her family wasn't exactly normal but she wouldn't have them any other way
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And so ends the next to last chapter of my story. One more chapter and its all done. Part of me can't wait while another has a tear in my eye. Now for a rant I will call my After Notes (same initials as previously used)
AN: Story time and length - As mentioned previously, now is my time to rant about how long this story truly is. I'm sure you all know by now (from my mentioning before) that this story was never supposed to be this long. There never was suppose to be an additional section for Sess/Kagura fluff. Heck there was never supposed to be a Tai Azuma. From my original planning this story I thought would only take 10-15 chapters and be no more than about 50 pages. The whole thing with IY's parents were planned but that alone took 15 chapters! From the beginning, I wasn't totally sure if I wanted to include Kagome's father or not, but I began wanted to make sure I covered everything (no plot holes), so that got added. The part with reviving Midoriko was a totally different idea but rather than write another story, I just merged it into this one and I think it worked out for the better. Part of my problem was that I never really sat down and thought how long it would take to cover what I wanted to do, not only that and I'd totally forgotten about the fluff chapters.
Well I'd expected that I'd have the story finished in 50 pages and at max 6 months time. Well I might have been able to make that (or year's time) if it hadn't been for class, laziness, and everything else that got in the way of my writing. So here I stand, almost 2 years after I started this story with 65 chapters instead of 15 and 270 pages instead of 50. You heard me right, whether you just read the story now, or have been following along since the beginning. This story is now 270 pages and that isn't even including all my author notes. This was done in Microsoft Word 12 font Times New Roman. So no big space to take up pages. It isn't the longest I've read though. If you think this is bad try reading Moonsilver's The Bet Saga (Tenchi), which when put together is approximately 854 pages, and I've read this story multiple times. Its just that good. I hope you think the same of mine to keep with it this long.
Well that's about it. Join me next time when I'll mention something wonderful about all your great reviews. Come next time for the final installment of A Wish From the Heart:
Epilogue - Part 2: The Present and the Future
To be Concluded