Everything after you

Part 4 of 4.

Rating: T

Summary: The jewel is gone. Kikyo has survived. InuYasha must now choose between the life he had promised and the life that he wants. Everything after you is a story of finding love again, even when you thought you couldn't have it. InuxKag. Alternate ending.


Chapter 4 (of 4): Kagome

Today marks three years since I last jumped through the well. I think back on all that has happened these passed three years, and a soft smile crosses my lips.

I've graduated high school, with top honors. It's amazing what actually taking the time to study instead of chasing jewel shards can do for you. I'm waiting to hear back from colleges next week. I went shopping and watched movies with Yuri, Eri and Ayumi. I've gone to festivals with Sota and his new girlfriend. Mom taught me how to cook different family recipes, grandpa taught me how to make sutras, though I am skeptical about those…

It's been fun, and I've done so many great things. Being back here in my own time, I have grown so much, I sometimes can't believe how much time has passed.

But.

It never really feels like it should, does it.

All this time here, compared to a fraction of a lifetime back in the feudal era, and still. I find myself feeling as if I am somehow not where I am supposed to be.

Strange isn't it? I was born here, live so much of my life here, my entire family who I love is here, and yet I know I am not meant to be here. I never was.

I've often wondered about the past. Seems like not even a day can go by where I don't think of my friends and family back in time. I wonder how they all are, what they look like now, if they're happy and healthy. I wonder what they do, day to day. I wonder if they miss me as I miss them.

It was only a year back in that time. So why then, is it that that year has changed and shaped my entire life.

Something about today, pulls me to the well. I stand at the top of the steps, unmoving. The morning rays slowly breaking through the horizon and I can smell spring. I must have stood there for some time, because Sota comes out with a cup of tea in his hands.

"It's not that warm, y'know." He chastises me. I smile, grateful for the warm beverage.

"Thanks, Sota." I ruffle my not so little brother's hair. He stands at nearly my eye level now, in just these last few years, he shot up like a bamboo shoot, soon he'll be taller than me. I think about when he was little and about all the times I carried him home from school on my back, because he was too tired to walk. I smile at that. My baby brother.

"What are you doing out here? It's been a while since I've seen you near the well." I think back to the days after I returned to my time for the last time. I had cried my eyes out, avoided the well for months, never coming near it. Then one day I had boarded it all up, told everyone to stay away from it and to never mention it again. I couldn't bring myself to remember my life there if I had wanted to continue my life here.

The sadness had swiftly turned into anger. I had returned to my time with nothing but a broken heart and a yellow backpack full of memories. I had shoved them all into a box beneath my bed, never to be opened again.

But as the season warmed up again, and the snow melted away and the goshinboku bloomed again, as it had for 500 years, I found my anger softening, and the sadness becoming almost a comforting feeling.

For how many of us can say we loved with our entire heart? Not many. I was one of the few lucky people who had the honor of finding my souls other half. No matter how briefly.

So that day, when the last of winter had melted into spring, and the air was warm with wild flowers and rain, I had pulled the box out from under my bed, carefully unwrapping it and staring with fresh eyes. It had been two years since I had last touched anything from the past, and when I did, my heart ached with a feeling of familiarity. A feeling of home.

I pulled out the sutras Miroku had written for me, a stack of crisp old papers, painted in the familiar inked writing of my favourite monk. I think back to all the exorcisms he performed to get us some night stays inside during our travels, a laugh escaped me. He wrote some for luck, and good health, for healing, and finally for love. I smiled and traced the letters with my fingers. I can still hear his voice as he placed them in my hands.

"For you, the strongest priestess I have ever known. I hope these bring you good fortune, and whenever you use them, I hope you think of us." I can still see his indigo eyes shimmering in the sunlight.

I put them down and unwrap the gift Sango had sent me off with, a polished demon bone miniature of her hiraikotsu. I laughed out loud and held it close to my heart, seeing my sister's brown eyes and gentle face, thinking of how many countless times she saved us with that exact weapon.

"This is a small gift from me to you, Kagome. I am going to miss you so much and I never want you to forget about us. You'll be in our memories forever." She had said.

I placed it down by the sutras and placed a hand over the spinning tops Shippou had sent me off with. My little fox demon, the only son I had ever had. I felt a sob reach up my throat. I swallowed it down, and finally let out the tears I had been holding in for all that time. I stared at all the treasures of a time that seemed so long ago and felt my heart breaking all over again.

This beautiful family I had created back in the feudal era.

I reached to place them back into the box, my hand knocking against a small folded cloth I hadn't noticed. I had unfolded it and seen a small red handkerchief, made of fur from the fire rat.

"InuYasha…" I think back to when he had packed up my backpack for me, carried it to the well for me, held me tightly until the others had arrived, and bounded off. He must have snuck in this piece of fire rat, a reminder of all the times he had protected me, loved me, even.

After that night, I had removed the boards from the well one by one, opened the doors to let the sun in and cried tears of happiness. I stared at the well for hours, replaying moments and memories and feelings, again and again until the sun slowly slipped away.

How grateful I was for my life with them, to have been able to love and be loved by them was my life's greatest accomplishment.

"Just remembering." I answer Sota. He smiles at me then, and I wrap my arms around his shoulders, bringing him in.

These past years were filled with growing and learning, with healing and accepting. I was older now, able to understand the decisions that were made, and able to learn to no longer be so hurt by them. Instead of filling myself with regret and sadness, I chose to fill myself with memories of games played by firelight with Shippou, of Sango and Miroku munching on the ninja food I brought back, of bathing in hot springs in the autumn and of being carried by InuYasha across mountains.

I have lived a perfect and beautiful life, and I would continue to live it, because he taught me how to.

"Alright, time to drop off some resumes! Wish me luck!" I hand Sota the mug and kiss him on the cheek to which he furiously wipes away and laugh as I bound down the shrine steps, full of tea and love.


I came home later that night to celebrate with my family, but as I bounded up the steps, I felt something pulling me to the goshinboku.

"That's odd…" I said to myself as I ran over to the tree. I could feel something pulling at my heart, a thread tugging.

"Kagome…"

I could hear his voice; I was sure of it. Of all the things I might forget about the feudal era, it would never be his voice.

I ran towards the tree, hopping over the low fence and looking up at the great branches that stretched across the sky. The leaves were bright and big, dew drops from this morning's rain still slipping from them, the smell of flowers nearly overwhelming me.

I swear I heard him.

I reach towards the trunk, fingertips touching the spot that InuYasha had been pinned for 50 years.

"Kagome…"

I can hear him again.

"Come back to me…"

And I knew I needed to go home.


InuYasha reaches a hand deep into the opening of the well, a fear in his heart coupled with a growing hope, and just as he is about to abandon it all, he feels a hand grasp for his. He pulls the hand up, stunned to see Kagome.

She smiles deeply at him, a face she could never forget. He catches her in the air by her waist, placing her down to stand in front of him. They stand there for a while, unsure if they are both dreaming.

"InuYasha…" She finally whispers, unable to stop the tears that fall and before she can wipe them away, he holds her face between his hands, each thumb wiping away stray tears. She laughs then, laughs and cries as he does this. He pulls her face to his, forehead to forehead. Gold meeting brown after all these years.

"Kagome." He finally says, a tremble in his voice.

"You came back to me." He sighs in relief, and before she can confirm, his lips are pressed to hers.

"I was always going to come back to you." She whispers against his lips, a smile being hidden by their kiss.

They pull back and he continues to hold her close to him, wrapping her in his arms as he always had. He can feel her heart beating against his own and smiles. Some wishes do come true.

"Come on, its time to go home." He says, pulling away from their embrace and holding her hand. He starts to walk, pulling her toward the village, towards their home. She nods her head, letting him carry her, as he always has, towards their future.

Authors Note: A big thank you to RareCandy1up on Reddit for letting me use their idea as a fanfiction, I hope I did it justice! Thank you to all my readers, new and old, for welcoming me back after nearly a decade away, I'm having a lot of fun writing again and am grateful for the comments and kudos. Take care!