One Day With You
Chapter One: To See InuYasha Again
Like old friends, several vibrant green vines outstretched their leaves toward Kagome in the breeze. Grabbing them with nostalgic ease, the high school graduate blinked rapidly and took a deep breath to steady herself. Here she was, standing at the bottom of the Bone Eater's Well, catching the scent of hundreds of trees and countless blades of grass for the first time in three years. As she gripped the plants before her, Kagome exhaled and placed her foot against the well's wall. It seemed nonsensical that the vines endured her weight and forceful tugs, but that hardly mattered if InuYasha was at their end.
InuYasha, all this time I wanted to see you, but now I understand. It's more than that, Kagome thought, hoping the declaration could somehow reach him. When the packed stones faded to wood panels, she couldn't resist tilting her head back. She wanted to feel the baby blue sky as it grew closer and closer. She wanted to relish in the relief of her hands wrapping around greenery instead of ladder rungs. Today was the end of every upward step being accompanied by creaky ropes and stifling dark brown mini-shrines. Those moments in her life could finally begin to fall away like the dried ivy leaves below her.
This sky, with its larks and oversized clouds, was exalting. Kagome should have realized that it would yield to so much more.
His name, Kagome was going to say his name.
"InuYasha."
Of course InuYasha was here. And he changed, how could he not have changed? His amber eyes bore holes into Kagome's very seams and his silver hair appeared otherworldly in the sun's glow. She was burning. Were his shoulders broader now? The young woman struggled to remember, but this man was undoubtedly the same one she'd spent so much time pining for.
Warmth blossomed in Kagome while a mangled sob snuck out. Her hands fled the vines to prevent any other noises from escaping–to hold herself together–as the surrounding world unraveled. But Kagome wasn't standing at the bottom of the well anymore. Squeezing her legs tightly against paper-thin plants, her arms thrust out to opposite sides and fervently circled in an attempt to remain suspended mid-air.
Without even flinching, InuYasha leaned forward. He extended his hand to her and, like Deja vu, pulled Kagome from the darkness into the light.
Kagome was airborne, and yet, she had never felt more grounded. When her fingers brushed against his silken robes, the drought of him ended. "InuYasha, I'm so sorry..." Kagome didn't quite understand what she was apologizing for; was it the well sealing? The moments she genuinely smiled while they were apart? The years between them? "Were you waiting for me?" She chose to say as he lowered her to the grass.
"You idiot; what took you so long?"
In retrospect, it was an easy answer but with her back engulfed by his sleeves, her hands pressed against his chest, and her ears caressed by his graveled voice, Kagome couldn't find her answer. She closed her eyes instead, cheek nestling against the half-demon's shoulder. If there was ever a moment she could live in forever, it would be this.
"Ka...Ka!"
"Kagome!"
Thunderous footsteps rolled closer as a set of unmistakable voices hit her like the first few drops of rain. Lowering her hands to hold tightly to InuYasha's hips, Kagome pushed her head away from him. "Lord Miroku, Sango, Shippo," she announced and she could see so clearly how her friends' flawless features shone in the afternoon sun. The last time they'd gathered by the Bone Eater's Well like this, their bodies had been littered by scrapes and bruises and miasma. Arguably, she felt as peaceful then as she did now, but Kagome never predicted how fleeting that first sense of relief was. Three years later, back in the safety of InuYasha's embrace, it was hard to believe time kept them apart at all. It was hard to process the warmth blossoming in her chest and even harder to stop the rain from growing heavy in her eyes. "I'm back," she said, turning to InuYasha.
His brows crinkled, messier than bunched laundry, but what Kagome found herself truly taken by was the twinkle of a solitary fang. It breached InuYasha's bottom lip and the high school graduate recalled the faces of boys from her own time. Her world was filled with people who smiled just like InuYasha, but not a single one of them had the ability to make her whole. "Yeah," InuYasha said and Kagome continued to watch his lips as he kept speaking. "Welcome home."
Home, from this moment onward, really couldn't be any other place unless InuYasha was there. "I'm back," the young woman repeated and it felt real. Reaching up, she grabbed two separate pieces of fire rat, tugging them toward her so the newly formed rolls of fabric would catch the oncoming downpour.
Although she was sure the shape of her mouth wouldn't find a comfortable position to sit in while the tears stormed on, there was an undeniable upward twitch when InuYasha pulled her closer. This isn't a dream, Kagome reminded herself, taking a shuddering breath.
"Are you alright, Lady Kagome?" Miroku asked, sounding so close to her that if she let InuYasha go, she could latch onto his purple robes. And Kagome wanted desperately to hold all of them at once, to be reminded over and over and over that not even time itself could keep them separated.
"There's nothing to cry about anymore, Kagome," the half-demon reassured her, gently nudging at Kagome's shoulders until she was forced to gaze up at him. His eyes, two suns scattering her storm. InuYasha, her rock. InuYasha, her answer in every lifetime. InuYasha, her home.
Kagome sniffled loudly, much to the amusement of her audience. She couldn't resist laughing along. "I know, it's just that I missed you all so much."
"Kagome," Sango began, feet padding cautiously across the clearing. Kagome knew Sango wanted to grip her shoulder, to show support, but Kagome wanted more. She took Sango's hand the second it was in range, squeezing it tightly. Just like InuYasha, Sango was here now and she was real to the touch and it left Kagome wanting to cry again. "We missed you, too," Sango finished, squeezing back.
Another small chuckle left her as Kagome searched each face, the familiar and unfamiliar alike. It seemed like InuYasha wasn't the only one who changed in three years. It was a bittersweet notion, but Kagome was sure they all realized she was different too.
"We're so relieved that you've returned, but how on earth..." Miroku trailed off, hoisting up the set of gawking toddlers in his arms.
Kagome turned to InuYasha then and smiled. She could feel the breeze on her teeth. "I just had to see InuYasha again."
-X-
A/N: I'm definitely a little ahead of myself by jumping straight to a reunion fic, but I figured there will be literal years before 1095 Days Without You reaches its conclusion and I'll likely have re-written this sister piece more than one hundred times over. I'm so in love with this first chapter and I hope you'll feel similarly. This fic will have three chapters, one for every year that Kagome and InuYasha spent apart. Please send creative and inspirational vibes my way so this doesn't become another WIP that I spend decades carefully weaving the next chapter-lol!
Also, in true 1095 Days fashion, the lyrics that go with this chapter are from Taylor Swift's "folklore" album. She just released "the long pond studio sessions" on Disney+ so I've been listening to "invisible string" that way. The acoustics are stunning, the music is a little slower, and it's got a hopeful sound to it that I like for this story.
"Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven."
Until next time,
hanmajo