DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: This author has no financial or non-financial relation nor do they possess any right to "Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale" franchise. Full ownership of all characters is the sole intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 27

Not a lot of things scare me. When you've been around as long as I have and been through what I've been through, you kinda become numb. Everyone's gunna die so why fear it, ya know what I mean. I've seen people grow old and die. I've killed humans and demons alike. I've literally been skewered before and suffered nearly every type of injury imaginable. Pain doesn't even really phase me anymore.

So when I say I'm literally paralyzed with fear right now, you've gotta see the big picture to understand why that's such a big deal. All I can do is watch her. I see her sitting on the lip of the well, looking down into it with tears streaming down her face and I realize that I've never really been scared before. I thought I was afraid every time one of my friends almost died or when I was left alone as a child. I was wrong. It felt nothing like this. I guess anxiety and grief aren't the same thing as fear, although they could give it a run for its money. There aren't even words to describe how I feel right now.

I thought everything was going pretty well. I mean, we're…we're having a kid together and I thought she was happy.

What did I do wrong? That's a stupid question, I do everything wrong.

Is she regretting coming back?

Is she going to go through and never come back?

She wouldn't do that to me, right? That isn't her way.

I know in my heart she wouldn't do that. She'd never betray me like that. I've…I've got to believe there is something else going on here. I'm moving as slowly and quietly as I can. If I startle her, she may fall into the well by accident and I can't allow that to happen. I can't lose her again. I may have survived the whole Kikyo thing relatively unscathed but losing Kagome would absolutely destroy me.

When I speak her name, she's jumps a little but thankfully slides off the well and launches into my arms. I can't help but gently pull her away from the well and hold her a little tighter as I do. She's murmuring about missing her family and wishing they would be here, especially with her being pregnant and all. She's telling me how much she loves me and asking if I'll stay with her. That she doesn't want to leave the meadow just yet. Hearing all that I understand why she came here. She wanted to be closer to them. I'm surprised she can't feel or hear my heart beating out of my chest. I'm not one for being dramatic but I seriously feel like I'm about to pass out and my knees are going weak from relief. She doesn't want to leave me, she isn't regretting any of this. She just misses her family, which I understand. I miss them too. Even the old man.

Well…there is another place I could take her that'd be like home and won't give me a heart attack and maybe...maybe later I can try to send a message to her family by dropping something down the well. A note or something. I just…she just needs to be more careful and not do this again, ever. At least, not alone.