Okay, while Myouga explains things to Takashi, I'm gonna backtrack a bit and do some flashback fun, to when all of this happened. Come oooon, you know you want toooooo! (Note: The flashback will not be from Myouga's POV, if that's what you thought. It may exceed one chapter. And I have to say first that there won't be any l-e-m-o-n in here, though it may seem like it's leading up to one.)

"Kagome?"

Souta stared through the open crack of the door at his sister. She was sulking again. He sighed and opened the door to walk towards her. He placed his hand firmly on her left shoulder, resulting with a glance in his direction. He frowned as she leaned towards him and buried her head against his chest, quietly sobbing.

"The worst part is I'm even more worried about him because of what happened that night. Something was wrong with him, I know it...His eyes haven't done that since..."

"Kagome, I can't tell you he's alright; but I can tell you I have faith in his ability to protect himself. Sure, he may not have known, but Inuyasha was his dad, after all. And I think it does show in some ways."

She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, smiling a bit.

"He certainly got his persistence. And his protectiveness..."

"And wherever he is, all we can do is hope he's okay...-It's better than worrying if he's not."

She nodded and sighed, and pulled the book on her desk into her lap, opening it.

"I was looking at this before...How many secrets did I keep from him?"

"-Hey, parents have the right - if not the responsibility, to keep things from their children until they're ready."

Kagome began to ponder how different things were all those years ago. When Naraku was defeated, and Inuyasha confessed his feelings...-shortly afterwards, giving her a little "present"...

"Kagoooomeeeee, how much longeeeerrrrr!"

"Not long Shippo, the food's almost done."

She giggled as Shippo's tummy got the last word in.

"What are you going to do when you start your training?"

He pouted, only causing her to laugh again.

What would things be like, now that Naraku was gone? She wondered. Miroku and Sango will probably start a family like she'd promised, and Shippo has plans to train under an old friend of his late father's. She should return to school, and resume her studies. And Inuyasha would...

Kagome stopped stirring the stew for a moment. He wouldn't...ask her for the jewel, would he?

"...Kagome?"

She snapped out of it and looked down at Shippo.

"Sorry, Shippo - oh, look, it's ready."

Before the end of the last word, he already had a bowl in his hands.

Inuyasha hadn't joined them for dinner. Normally she wouldn't worry, but with everything that had happened, she kind of wanted to talk to him. After she had cleaned up, she walked into the forest – with her bow and arrows, just in case – and headed for the Sacred Tree.

Sure enough, he was sitting in its branches, staring pensively at the dimming light on the west horizon. He looked strange; from where she could see him, he seemed like he was depressed, hopeful, anxious and enlightened all at once. She heard him sniff, and his head whipped around to look at her. He seemed startled - no, apparently WAS startled, and lost his balance on the branch. Luckily, he regained enough sense to land on is feet. He still appeared shaken, though maybe not from the fall.

"Uh...hi, Inuyasha."

"H...Hi."

This was odd; Inuyasha was acting really weird. Maybe it was some kind of post traumatic issue from defeating Naraku?

"I wanted to talk with you for a while."

He caught his breath and calmed down, uttering a "fine" and leaned against the tree, though still tense. She stood next to him; but realizing how his tension rose further, she scooted away a few inches – only to scoot back when his face said he wanted otherwise.

"So...what were you doing out here?"

He hesitated, looking down at his hand.

"It's none of your business, but...I was just...thinking."

His "none of your business" was half-hearted; he was trying to act like he normally would, but for some reason, couldn't. She smiled and leaned over, trying to look directly at his face.

"What about?"

"What I'm gonna do now."

She frowned, grabbing his hand. His ears went down bashfully.

"...Are you okay?"

He perked up again, smiling at her sincerely.

"Yeah; I'm fine. I just needed to decide what I wanted to do - and if I was ready to..."

She clutched at the jewel with her spare hand.

"...I see. -So, are you?"

He nodded, and began breathing through his mouth.

"I need to talk to you."

She felt a twinge of pain in her chest, feeling like this was a goodbye.

"This is hard to say.-...I cared a lot about Kikyo; she was the only one who seemed to feel any compassion towards me. But even when we decided to be together, she wanted me to become human with the jewel."

They faced each other, and Kagome intently watched his expressions as he spoke to her.

"I realized something important. It's true that Kikyo and I cared for each other. But I think the only reason was because we could relate to each other, and we didn't want to be alone. But two people who really...-love each other should be willing to bear each other's burdens together. After all, that's what my parents did. I would have willingly become human for her - but why did she want that? I think I was so desperate for someone else that I didn't see how she didn't accept what I was."

...What did this have to do with the jewel?

"-...But you accept me."

She blushed as he squeezed her hand.

"You are...more compassionate to me than Kikyo ever was. You don't care if I'm human, or demon, or something in between. You help me when I need it; you trust me; you...make me feel...better...

"You make me feel more than I ever did for Kikyo."

Her body made a barely noticeable jerk. He couldn't be saying...-?

"I...that is..."

He looked away and started to grind his teeth, growling in frustration.

"Dammit...-! Why can't I say it?"

"...Inuyasha?"

He looked back at her, his expression softening. He swallowed and took a deep breath, let go of her hand, and instead took hold of her arms. Deeply shocked, but still intent, she looked directly at him and noticed the deep red hue in his cheeks. His expression was suddenly determined and passionate, and as if he was afraid to wait another second, he began to force himself to say what he wanted to say.

"I want to be with you, Kagome. - I love you."

"-I love you too," she practically blurted out. She felt exhilarated by his confession and more so at the wide smile that hit his face, accented by his fangs.

Before she even realized, he pulled at her arms so her lips collided with his. She could feel his racing heartbeat pounding against her chest. His kiss was very simple, but in an attempt to emphasize his desire he began leaving a trail and stopped at her neck, breathing in her scent and nipping slightly. She put her arms around him and pulled him closer, realizing how labored his breath was.

"I know...that this is...-is a little..."rushed", but...will you..."

He looked up from his kissing to ask her sincerely. His chest heaved as he struggled to make his request.

"Will...you...-...Will you mate with me?"

She rolled the words around in her head. Sex was something different to him; it was obvious from the fact that he used the term "mating".

"You don't have to accept...I, I'm happy just kissing for now if that's what you want. I just wanted to...ask...-It's how demons marry each other, so I..."

He stared down at his feet, obviously regretting ever mentioning it. She smiled at his shyness, then kissed his forehead and reached into his haori to touch his chest. He looked up in surprised delight.

"Does that mean...-?"

"Yes."

He playfully smirked as he pulled her against him and fell backwards to the ground. He rolled over and resumed kissing her neck, running one hand through her hair while the other pet her shoulder

"I love you," he whispered.

The next morning, Kagome woke up to the feeling of Inuyasha's palm pressed against her abdomen. He began to stroke it gently, pulling her close and kissing her cheek. She rolled onto her other side to face him, kissing him on the nose and making him grin.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright; how are you?"

He just smiled wider and pulled her up against him.

"I probably should have told you this before...but - well, I'll tell you later. Let's just enjoy this peace and quiet for a bit."

She nodded and closed her eyes again, drifting back into slumber, safe and secure in her lover's arms.

"No, stay with me - I love you! KAGOME!"

- Kagome woke with a start and looked around for Inuyasha, surprised to find herself inside the well. She was still naked, her clothes beside her. She thought she heard...and why was she here?

She grabbed her clothes and climbed to the top of the well regardless of nudity and leapt back in, but landed firmly on the ground. She looked up to see that she was still in the well house. What was going on?

What if the jewel was still on the other side?

She focused on where she sensed the jewel, still in her pocket. She pulled it out, but to her horror...

The jewel was now grey and brittle, and as she lifted it up, it fell into dust in her palm. She screamed and tears flooded out of her eyes, and she curled up and sobbed.

Souta had found her there, still naked and weeping, two hours later. Her mother leapt down with a blanket and wrapped it around her, holding her as she incoherently sobbed about her lost love.

HOLY CRAP I just checked my reviews! I got some crazy (in a good way) fans!