Mirrored Future
By Amazonian21
Epilogue
Kagome stood still and stared pensively into her outstretched palm, a look of apprehension and deep dread etched onto her face. A small object, no bigger than a golf ball, stared innocuously back up at her, glowing with a suspicious pink cheeriness as if denying its inherent danger. It was time to dispose of the Shikon no Tama, and Kagome was scared to death.
This was the moment they'd fought for. This little piece of rock was the thing they'd bled, cried, and nearly died to obtain and neutralize. Now after all these years she held it in her little hands, whole and complete, and was expected to make the wish that would rid the world of the jewel's influence forever.
At that moment, Kagome hated democracy. All her now former friends had silently pushed her forward towards InuYasha as he held the tainted half towards her. Once she'd received and purified the half and then joined the stone back to its original form, those same pushy hands disappeared with remarkable haste behind their owners' backs. One by one her companions had shifted their feet, kicked the dirt, and whistled nonchalantly as the wouldn't meet her eyes, all looking like guilty school children looking to avoid yard work. They acted as if hoping that ignoring the situation would make it go away.
Well, fine, then. If they were going to be like that, she'd take care of it herself. None of them wanted to take the responsibility off her hands? Then she'd just have to find the perfect wish, the one unselfish wish that would end it all.
Kagome wanted to sit down and cry. She had absolutely no idea of what to do.
She could feel their eyes on her surreptitiously and could feel their trust and confidence in her like a nagging itch prickling her skin. They had so much faith in her abilities and so much confidence that she would be able to make a wish unselfishly. It was daunting.
How could they think that of her? Didn't they know that not so very long ago she would still be bitter and angsty over InuYasha? Didn't they know that deep in her heart she would have done anything to get him to love her? Didn't they know she would have, accidentally of course, wished that Kikyou had never existed? How could they give her this responsibility, when she was so unworthy?
She looked to Sesshoumaru in a silent plea for help. She didn't want this job. She didn't want their faith. She was tired and sore and she was still bleeding. She just wanted to hand the stone over to someone stronger and go take a much deserved nap.
Sesshoumaru met her gaze and read most of her thoughts on her tired, careworn face. He wasn't used to the feelings of concern that rose in him when he saw how weary his mate was. If he could have taken the stone from her cradled hands and crushed it into a fine powder, never to bother them again, he would have. He would have done almost anything to ease the strain from his little miko's shoulders. But this job was for her and her alone. He couldn't be her hands, but he would be her strength.
He held her gaze unflinchingly, golden eyes steady and strengthening. He put all the resolve and certainty he could into his expression, letting her know he had every confidence that she could do what needed to be done, and that he was right here beside her while she did it.
He also set his lips into a grim smile and folded his arms, clearly stating he wasn't going to let her off the hook. He knew she could do it, she had to do it no matter what, so she might as well get on with it already.
Sighing in a mixture of exasperation and strengthening resolve, Kagome squashed the urge to stick her tongue out at the TaiYoukai and instead steeled herself for the ultimate wish.
Her companions held their collective breaths as Kagome concentrated. All knew that the jewel responded to the desires of the one who wielded it. This was why Kagome now held the jewel and the responsibility for its destruction. She had little faith in herself, but her friends all knew she was the most pure and unselfish amongst them.
Thoughts raced through her head in waves of dizzying pictures. She thought about all she wished, all she wanted, all she hoped for her friends. Her emotions and desires swept through her without words, undefined by something so limited as language. She operated on pure instinct and intuition, letting all she wished for flow through her being, complete and entire, leaving no room for mistake or misunderstanding.
She thought of Sango, crying over the slain form of her brother, cruelly killed before her eyes by Naraku those years before. She thought of Miroku, cringing in pain as he used his cursed wind tunnel to absorb too many poisonous insects. She thought of the villagers who had lost their lives because of Naraku's evil. She thought of InuYasha and Kikyou, doomed because of their distrust and Naraku's horrible treachery.
She wished it hadn't happened, but did not wish for the past to be undone. Painful as it was, all that had occurred prior to this moment had made them the people they were today. Experience had taught them lessons that could not be learned any other way. Every moment, every agonizing and tear filled second, had made each one of them that much more amazing. It wasn't fun or pleasant, and Kagome wouldn't wish a second round on anybody, but she could not wish it for them to go back in time to relive a pain-free life.
She could, however, wish for those who'd been most effected by Naraku's evil to get a second chance for happiness for the future, free from the evil hanyou's influence.
Without so many words, using pure emotion and desire, Kagome conveyed these thoughts to the crystal in her hands. The wish was made.
The jewel shone with a dazzling pink brilliance, glowing until all present had to shield their eyes from its intensity. Slowly, it rose from Kagome's hands, hovering in the air over the small group. With a blinding flash and a wave of power that knocked everyone off their feet, the jewel exploded, its molecule-fine aura dispersing as far as the eye could see, covering the world with its healing powers.
For a moment, there was silence. No one moved. Nature herself took a breath, feeling that things were suddenly much better than they'd been just moments before. It was an undefinable and yet very noticeable shift in everyone's hearts and minds.
To InuYasha, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome it felt as if a million tiny wounds they hadn't even acknowledged had suddenly been healed over, leaving tiny, pain-free scars. The marks would always be there, but no longer had the power to cause agony.
The collected group of heros slowly rose to their feet, eyeing each other as if seeking answers to an unanswerable question. What was different? What did this mean for them?
Miroku was the first to supply them with an idea of where to start looking. With a cry of joy, he removed the now useless rosary from his newly curse-free palm, baring the appendage to the sunlight for the first time in his whole life. He was free from the fear of never being able to love someone as he desired for fear of passing on his burden to a new generation of children. He was free of the knowledge of his own, horrible death being sucked into his own hand. He was free to choose a future for himself without a madman's curse debilitating him every step of the way. His eyes lit up with pure joy, lighting his face in a manner it had never been lit before.
Sango, who'd rushed forward at the sound of his delighted yell, stopped short as she saw a lone figure emerging from the woods. All else was forgotten as she rushed towards the young man who'd begun to run for her. With a cry of joy and tears running down her face, she tackled her younger brother, momentarily blinded by the fierceness of her joy. He was whole and living again, free from the control of an evil hanyou, and given another shot at living with his loving, loyal older sister. The siblings embraced joyously, thankful to be together once more.
Simultaneously, InuYasha caught whiff of a familiar scent, one he hadn't smelled in over fifty years...
With a gasp of surprise he turned and saw the one person who'd haunted his dreams, even while pinned unconscious to a tree, walking towards him with an expression of surprised wonder on her face. She was very much alive and carrying no trace of minerals or death in her scent. Her eyes were clear and happy, no longer shadowed and sunken with the weight of her soul's bitter burdens. She was truly his Kikyou, the real Kikyou, the Kikyou he'd stayed loyal to even when it was harder than dying would have been. She was hurrying to meet his outstretched and surprised arms with dawning joy and happiness clear on her relaxed and relieved face. It was the miko as she was meant to be, no embittered copy of her shattered and despairing soul.
Kagome watched as her friend streaked past in a blaze of red, sweeping Kikyou into his arms in a crushing hug. She winced in sympathy for the girl; she'd probably have bruised ribs in the morning.
Kagome gave a small sigh of contented happiness as her back came to rest against a strengthening presence behind her. She felt a strong arm wrap around her shoulder from behind, coming to rest in a comforting embrace across her chest. Her own opposite arm came up to clasp over his, hugging him back even as he hugged her, and she lay her head into the crook of his neck. She was grateful for his presence. A few weeks ago, seeing Kikyou and InuYasha like that would have broken her heart and left her slinking off to the well house, desperate to escape to her own time. Seeing InuYasha happy, really happy for the first time ever, in the arms of her old rival, would nearly have killed Kagome.
But that was then, and this was now. With Sesshoumaru at her back, a silent presence comforting her in ways beyond all words, she could feel genuine relief and happiness for her friends. It still hurt more than she would have liked to know that she and InuYasha never would have become what she'd wanted them to become, but she could move past that. She could let it go and begin anew, working on a new life with new prospects. She too had been given a second chance.
Now, without any lingering bitterness or regret, she could watch as Sango and Miroku kissed passionately, pressed tightly together, as Shippou and Kohaku pretended to gag at the sight. She could laugh aloud as Miroku got his first legitimate grope of Sango's behind without getting a simultaneous hand print on his face. She could be pleased with the happy blush that infused Sango's face as she realized that the humiliating attention that had been fixed on Kagome earlier had now transferred to her. It was her turn to hide away in Miroku's robe as the monk smirked and smiled proudly for all to see. It wouldn't be long before there was a wedding to celebrate in addition to the defeat of Naraku.
Kagome could also smile, albeit a little sadly, as InuYasha led Kikyou into the woods without even glancing back at her as they went away. It was a new era for them all, and today would be the first day of the rest of their lives. She figured they would all have much to discuss.
Suddenly, Kagome whirled as she was spun around to come face to face with a seriously intent TaiYoukai. It was clear that her moments of contemplation were over. Sesshoumaru had allowed her a few moments to spare some thought for her friends, but now he was ready to claim her full attention.
Without a single word, Sesshoumaru took a page from his brother's book and grabbed Kagome's hand. He drew her up close to his body and grasped her around her middle, effectively sweeping her off the forest floor. Ignoring her questions and shriek of surprise, he sped off into the forest with his mate, leaving a laughing Sango and Miroku behind.
There was much to be said, and none of it fit for the ears or eyes of others.
Elsewhere, a wolf demon watched the exchange between Sesshoumaru and Kagome and watched the TaiYoukai drag his woman off into the forest. His first instinct was to chase after them and make a play for Kagome's hand, but suddenly it didn't seem like much fun. It might have had to do with a new feeling of maturity and freedom that came after defeating a dangerous enemy. It might have had to do with remembering he had a wolf princess waiting for him to claim her as mate. It might have to with remembering that Sesshoumaru wore no restraining rosary to save him if things got out of hand. Whatever the case, Kouga gave a final wave of farewell to Kagome's retreating figure as he turned to speed off to new adventures.
Elsewhere, an excited hanyou held his beloved miko and discussed many things. In low whispers, interspersed with lingering caresses and heated looks, they talked of love, and trust, and all the years and the weight of suspicion. They talked of new loves and new hope, and of moving slowly from here on out, taking time to relearn everything they'd only thought they'd known about the other. They talked of forgiveness, and a slow rebuilding for the future. And for them, things were a brighter shade of happy than either could ever remember feeling. It was the feeling of true hope and freedom, unrestrained by inexperience or fear. They now had a real chance, and the wisdom to know how to take it.
Sesshoumaru and Kagome moved on, oblivious to the moments and feelings of all others. This time was theirs, and they would take it in each other.
They came to a stop in a small, isolated clearing. Kagome couldn't tell for sure how far they'd come, but she had a pretty good idea that they'd be out of range of any curious bystander. She was all alone in the big, bad woods, with her very own big, bad inu youkai.
She had no idea of what to expect when he slowly began to lower her back to her feet. She realized they'd ended up on the banks of a small stream. The ground surrounding them was spongy and soft, and the woods around her emitted a calming, soothing atmosphere that made her able to relax, even in the presence of the unsettling demon lord.
Sesshoumaru watched with interest as Kagome knelt to scoop some water into her hands, bringing the clear liquid up to her lips for a long drink. Once her thirst was satisfied, the girl sat with a small, contented sigh, leaning back onto her arms and looking up at the stoic youkai who still stood in front of her.
"I should be thinking and worrying about a lot of things right now," she began, shutting her eyes lazily and letting the breeze caress her face, "but I can't bring myself to. It's too beautiful here, and there's a lot to be grateful for."
"Yes, there is," Sesshoumaru said, coming to stand behind the miko. When her eyes remained shut he sank down to his own knees before coming to rest fully behind her, one leg to either side of her small form. With his good arm he pulled on her gently until she came to rest against him, her head to his chest.
"I feel like I should be watching over my friends, sharing in their joy and showing them how happy I am for all the good things that have happened today," she said, leaning her head all the way back until it rested fully on his shoulder.
"They'll be fine without you," he said with a small smile, brushing her bangs away from her forehead. "I trust they don't need your permission to be happy," he continued, gently stroking her hair.
"No, they don't," Kagome agreed, relaxing further into his touch. "It just feels like this couldn't have been the end. It's just too soon and so sudden."
Sesshoumaru arched his eyebrow down at her in question. "Four years wasn't long enough for you?" he wondered idly.
Kagome opened one eye and squinted up at him with half a glare before giving up and going back to closing her eyes.
"That's not it at all," she said, becoming drowsy. "Maybe it was too long. All this time, all this build up, all this tension and worry, and now Naraku is really dead. Now I made the right wish and the jewel's gone. Miroku's free, Sango has her brother, and InuYasha can start over." She paused thoughtfully for a moment, trying to pinpoint exactly why she still felt so restless. "It just seems like for so long we were fighting a fight that had no end in sight. And we were so tired most of the time, and so worried. It was all we lived for. We all gave up so much. And now we don't have any lives outside our quest, and the quest's over. What are we supposed to do now?"
Kagome wanted some sort of reassurance that everything would be fine. She wanted someone to tell her that her friends would always be by her side, happy now that they were beginning their second chances. She wanted someone to offer her pure, clear, solid comfort.
Sesshoumaru didn't know what the future would bring. Frankly, it was no concern of his. They had the mirror, of course, and could ask it anything they wanted since Kagome was to be his mate, but he didn't really want to know. Knowing too much about your future limited your choices, and he didn't want any limitations imposed on him if he could avoid them.
He didn't know what words she wanted to hear. Words were never his strong point. Words were the greatest lie of all. There was no way to articulate the pure range of thought and emotion that flowed through his mind and body. There was no way to verbally reassure her that he would be there for her now, with her, beside her, forever, because she was his. She was his and he was hers, and that was the way it always would be because it always had been.
So he did what any youkai would do in his position. He saw that his mate still had some cuts that bled slowly on her face and arms. He would tend to her, comfort her, heal her, and show her that they didn't need to know what to do now. They'd end up doing it anyway.
Kagome's eyes blinked open wide when she felt the first swipe of his rough tongue across her forehead. It was a rasping and warm pressure, one that sent tingles all the way across her body, ending in her poor, overloaded toes. What was he doing?
"Sesshoumaru?" she questioned, half squeaking with the unexpected, though not unwelcome, contact. "What are you doing?"
Sesshoumaru paused in his ministrations and moved lower until his voice brushed against her ear, sending shock waves straight along her very awake nervous system.
"You talk too much," he said in a low growl that made her neck vibrate and her heart skip a beat.
"So I've been told," Kagome said breathlessly. She wouldn't be talking much more tonight, she could tell. She wouldn't have her wits about her enough to string together a sentence.
Sesshoumaru slowly began to clean her many scrapes and lacerations again, licking each wound from end to end, removing the dried blood and dirt. He stopped only when small amounts of fresh, clean blood rose to the surface of the abused flesh, content that they would now begin to heal quickly and thoroughly. The healing properties inherent in youkai saliva was a useful thing in many instances.
He gave her whole face and neck the same attention, thoroughly going over every inch of Kagome's exposed, battle torn body, satisfying himself that she would heal and soon be back to her normal, healthy self. It was a new experience for him to be healing somebody. Usually he was the cause of their wounds, not the solution to them. He found he didn't mind the change of pace in the least.
He couldn't stand to see her sore in any way, not if he could bring her any relief. And tending to her in this manner was strangely satisfying. He'd never done this for another. His own wounds healed very quickly, by and large, and there had never been another he'd been close enough to share such intimacy with. Youkai were not big on social grooming. Still, he was guided by instinct, and his instincts told him to shelter and comfort the miko in front of him, keeping her close to his body and nuzzling all the flesh he could get his hands on.
Kagome felt herself utterly soothed and relaxed. Now she knew why cats loved to be petted. This was so warm, so comforting, so intimate. It was the best answer she could have received.
She sat with her head pooled against his body, feeling as though she'd turned into one pile of languid goo. His hair flowed softly around her as he bent his head over her body, covering her like a curtain from the world. A soft vibration came rumbling through his chest, further soothing her as he dipped and bent, covering each inch and focusing all his attention on her unresisting, happy form.
"Who must I speak to about claiming you?" Sesshoumaru asked, once Kagome was attended to and resting sleepily in his lap.
"My mother and grandfather," she answered sleepily, stifling a yawn behind a lazy hand. "If the well still works, that is," Kagome said, sitting up abruptly.
She'd forgotten about the well! She hadn't disappeared once the jewel was destroyed and Naraku was dead, but that didn't mean she wasn't stuck here instead of at home in her own time! How could she have forgotten?
"I have to get to the well!" Kagome yelled, scrambling to her feet over the grumbling protests of a disgruntled TaiYoukai. He didn't want to leave the confined of their closeness, especially when the serious matter of mating had not yet been addressed.
Kagome, however, would not be detained. "I have to make sure I can still get to see my family!" she said, beginning to dash off in the wrong direction.
Sesshoumaru fluidly rose to his feet and rolled his eyes. Honestly, the girl was always overreacting about something, and had the worst woodsman ship he'd ever run across. He bet she'd get lost in her own sleeping bag if given the chance.
Without another word Sesshoumaru darted forward and scooped her into his arm, once again carrying her away more quickly than she could have walked. He headed off in the right direction, moving towards the well that would hopefully take him to speak to her family for the right to claim Kagome as mate. Not that they'd dare refuse him, of course.
They were soon standing at the edge of the well, holding hands tightly while staring down into its mysterious depths. Kagome didn't sense any great change in the atmosphere around her; it still buzzed with a low hum of mystical power. That was definitely a good sign.
She looked towards Sesshoumaru once more, again getting strength and courage from his mere presence. She held her breath and gave his hand a light squeeze before letting go, moving to step towards the edge.
Sesshoumaru held his breath as well, unconsciously mimicking her nervous action. He had to physically restrain himself from stopping her. He knew she would worry about her family, and that she would want to make sure the well still worked. He also knew that he shouldn't be able to pass through, or hadn't been able to in the past.
But if the well no longer worked and if she weren't pulled into the river of time, she would hit that well's deep bottom unprotected. She could really get hurt, and that wasn't something he could allow.
With lightning fast reflexes and superhuman speed, Sesshoumaru darted towards the well's edge and caught Kagome before she could take the final step over. He looked into her eyes, concern etched on his features, as he wordlessly held her to him and jumped himself. He took her with him deep into the well, figuring that the well would take her and reject him.
He was surprised, however, when the flashing blue lights engulfed both miko and youkai in a familiar blaze, taking them far into the future, into another world entirely. He had made it through to Kagome's time.
Kagome turned to him and beamed, surprised and happy that he'd been able to make the trip. She'd been worried when he grabbed her, thinking he'd changed his mind about letting her see her family. At the very least she'd been worried that the well would reject them both because of his presence.
This was all very reassuring, however. Kagome smiled some more and leaned in to give him an enthusiastic hug, laughing in delight.
"It worked! It worked!" she cried, doing a little dance in place at Sesshoumaru's side. "I'm home! I can come home and still go back," she said, unaware of the discomfort her shouting was causing the uncomplaining demon at her side because of his heightened hearing abilities. He stoically bore it, however, mentally congratulating him for his restraint and longsuffering. The things he did for this woman...
Unconsciously, his arm tightened around her as a thought entered his head unbidden. He was in her time. Where her family lived. He was in her time, with her family, and would now have to ask some puny humans for permission to mate their miko daughter.
The reality of the situation suddenly struck him full force. He was about to mate a human forever. And he doubted that she knew it would be for that long. Who would have told her that once mated, youkai share their live spans with their mates? It was a closely guarded secret. Not many youkai relished the idea of nearly immortal humans, or tragically short lived youkai. Should Kagome die in an accident, Sesshoumaru would soon follow. And if Sesshoumaru should live for a thousand years, Kagome would be right by his side, chattering away for the whole millennia while he stared and wondered what he'd gotten himself into.
How? How had this happened? How had he suddenly developed a very permanent attachment to a very human girl? How had he come to her time, to these ends, to this path for his life?
Damned mirror. For a moment, Sesshoumaru cursed its existence. If it weren't for the vision they'd shared in the glass, Sesshoumaru would have walked away from the field today completely unaffected by everything and everyone on it. He would have continued along as he always had on a solitary routine path, in a normal, regulated, unexciting life.
He wouldn't have had any strange twists or turns. No surprising revelations about his own character. No new and odd affections to turn his head and broaden his senses. No little mikos to hold and caress and protect...
With these thoughts, Sesshoumaru growled a little low in his throat and pulled Kagome even closer into his side. He couldn't regret anything. He couldn't wish away this woman, not when fate had worked so hard to bring her here. He liked her. He needed her. He wanted everything about her. No, this was a path he could and would follow through to the end.
He turned to look down at the miko, meeting her beautiful eyes half way. She was gazing up at him, trying to decipher the dazed and far off look on his face. It was a new look for him, one she wanted very much to catalogue. So far she knew the 'please shut up,' look, the 'I'm not going to laugh even if it is funny,' look, the 'I'm about to destroy something,' look, and a couple of other repeat offenders. She still had a long ways to go towards knowing them all, especially since they were all slight variations on a common theme.
"Are you ready to go?" Kagome asked him, unaware that this was indeed the question of the hour.
Sesshoumaru paused for a moment, continuing his search of her face. The moment stretched on until it became a very long moment indeed, but neither one broke the eye contact or rushed through. Moments are over too soon, after all. They shouldn't be rushed.
Finally, Sesshoumaru came to a decision.
"Yes," he said, in all simplicity, and that was all the answer either of them needed.
A/N: Yes, that's the end. This was just a story of how two crazy kids got together, not an epic adventure of what they did for the rest of their lives. I don't have that much stamina.
Thanks for the support, you guys. I flaked out on the last round of reviews. Boo... what a lame-o, eh?
Over 20,000 views. Not that it matters to anyone but me. But it still sort of does.
I love you all. I love that I finished it. I love lamp. Catch you on the flip side; many happy returns.
