Chapter Sixteen: Back to the Present

When he reaches the edge, Kagome helps him out of the water. Inuyasha looks up and sees his older self watching them. Kagome walks over to him, "Inuyasha, this is you. Just much older."

"Hey, I'm not that old." he smirks. He sighs and turns to the tree. He walks over to his wife's body. He slowly picks her up and holds her in his arms. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" he looks to his younger self, "Never let her out of your sight. Don't make the mistake I did." He slowly bends down and kisses her forehead. His ears twitch when her hears a voice calling to him. He turns and sees Chiyo and Maruso running toward them.

Chiyo jumps rock to rock and leaps onto the island. Maruso follows her holding something in his hands. Chiyo throws her arms around her father's neck, "Daddy! I was so scared!"

"Chiyo... don't worry, everything will be fine."

She glances down to her mother, "Mommy looks so cold, as if she were dead."

"Well, that what happens when someone gets their soul sucked from their body." he sighs heavily.

Maruso grins, "Kikyo had given Artemis a gem with Mom's soul inside. When I got the chance I stole the gem and put a fake in its place." he pulls out the gem. "So here is the real one." he hands it to his father.

"You little thief." he laughs and hugs Maruso. "You wouldn't know how to get her soul out of here would you?"

"Sorry, I don't but maybe Mo- I mean.. uh... Kagome can."

Kagome looks up from the ground, "Me?"

The older Inuyasha stands and places the orb in her hands. "Yes, you should be able to free her soul. You have stronger Miko powers then Kikyo." he kisses her cheek.

Kagome blushes bright red, "Uh... um... Okay... I'll try." she walks over to her future self. She looks down and takes a deep breath. Kagome holds the orb above her head and it starts to glow. Chiyo's eyes widen as she watches her mother's soul enter her body. As soon as it does, her lips and cheeks return to their natural color. Her heart begins to beat once again. Her eyes slowly open, she turns her head and looks at her husband. "Inuyasha..." she smiles. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." he kneels down beside her. He then looks to Inuyasha and Kagome. "You should go. Chiyo will show you how to get back to your time. Don't worry about your future, none of this will happen." he smiles and turns his attention back to his wife.

Kagome and Inuyasha climb out of the mirror. Inuyasha turns and smashes the mirror behind him. "There, now no one can get to the future." he smiles at Kagome. He sees her blushing and he laughs.

"What's so funny?" she blushes more.

"I don't understand why you blush. Its just me. Or are you still blushing because my future self kissed you?" he smirks.

"No! It was only a kiss on the cheek." she a sticks out her tongue and walks away. Inuyasha shakes his head and follows her. She looks back , "Inuyasha... "

"Yeah?"

"Kikyo... you don't mind that she died? You don't mind that I killed her?"

"Oh Kagome..." he puts his arms around her. "Don't worry, I wanted her to die. It was time for her to rest. I need to move on with my life." he kisses her and takes her hand. "Lets go find the others, they must be worried."

When Inuyasha and Kagome arrive at the hut, they find Miroku and Sango tending to each other's wounds. Sango smiles, "Welcome back."

Kagome rushes to over, "What happened! Are two okay!"

Miroku beams, "Don't worry Kagome, everything's fine. We were attacked by Yumi. She was trying to steal Kagome's sword." Miroku winces, "She is pretty good at fighting when she isn't fooling around."

Inuyasha smiles at him and kneels down next to Kagome. "So where's Shippo?" he scans the room for the little fox but doesn't spot him.

Sango looks up, "I'm not sure. He was running around with Kirara earlier." Sango looks to Kagome and sees her yawn. "Kagome, if you are tired you should get some rest while you can."

Inuyasha quickly gets up and makes a bed for her in the corner of the hut. "Kagome you can sleep over here. I'll join you after I find Shippo."

Kagome nods, "Okay Inuyasha." Before he walks out of the hut, he covers her up and kisses her cheek. "Thank you Inuyasha, please be careful." she watches him leave.

Miroku and Sango stare at Kagome with wide eyes. Miroku smirks, "Did the egotistical, idiotic hanyou tell you how he feels? Because if he hasn't and that was something to fool us, he is a pretty good actor."

Kagome laughs, "Yes, he and I are together. And you won't believe this, he let Kikyo die."

Sango blinks, "He let her die! He finally got over her!"

"He said it was time for her to rest. Which is good, I didn't even want her to suffer anymore than she already has." Kagome closes her eyes and quickly falls asleep.

Inuyasha walks through the field searching high and low for Shippo. He yawns and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. "Its almost dawn and I still haven't found him..." Suddenly he feels something soft under his foot. He looks down and sees a sleeping fox child. He carefully picks up Shippo and gently wakes him.

Shippo opens his eyes, "Oh Inuyasha! You're back!" the small fax hugs him. "Is Kagome back too?"

"Yeah, she is back at the hut. Why are you all the way out here?"

"Inuyasha, you are never going to believe me!" he pauses, "I found a tunnel, it leads to another world!"

Inuyasha looks more serious, "Another world? What did it look like?"

"It was amazing! It had huge castles and a lot of pretty girls in big dresses. There was a lot of guards there too. Oh and demons." He thinks for a moment. "There were weird creatures there as well. I don't know what they were. Some looked really funny, others were scary! But when I was there, some of the guards started to chase me! I think I saw Serenity there! And and I think she saw me!"

"Calm down Shippo. We'll go to this tunnel tomorrow okay? That way Kagome, Miroku, and Sango will be with us."

Shippo nods, "Okay Inuyasha." Together they head back to the hut as the sun raises.