The Storm
By: AniuLonewolf
Chapter 14 - To the Future
Kagome was the first to wake up the next morning. As she stretched her arms over her head, she realized that she wasn't lying in her sleeping bag. Moving around slightly, she realized that she was lying against something warm and soft. When she had moved, arms came around and wrapped around her waist.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw that she had been sleeping in Inuyasha's lap. 'That's right; I gave my sleeping bag to Koga.' She recalled as she looked back up at the sleeping half demon. A smile appeared on her lips as she leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. He hardly ever got a night's sleep so she didn't want to wake him up.
But when she turned around and leaned against Inuyasha's chest again, she saw that the fox demon Shippo was starting to wake up.
"Good morning Shippo." The raven haired girl whispered down to the kitsune but she looked back at Inuyasha, hoping her voice wouldn't wake him up. But all she saw was his ear flick once and that was it so she figured he was still sound asleep.
The little fox demon was in the middle of a yawn when Kagome greeted him and when he looked over his shoulder, his mouth was still wide open but when he was done yawning he smiled brightly at her. "Good morning Kagome." He whispered.
But when the fox demon spoke Inuyasha suddenly started making noise. Kagome, who was still leaning against his chest was suddenly trapped when the sleeping half demon wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close and enabling her from moving.
"Shippo can you do me a favour." Kagome whispered, trying to get out of Inuyasha's arms without waking him. It didn't work out very well because when she moved, Inuyasha just pulled her closer. "Could you go into my bag and start breakfast for me? Just get out the noodle cups."
The little fox demon nodded and jumped up from his spot and walked over to Kagome's giant yellow bag which was in the corner of the room. He dug through all the boxes of bandages and finally was able to pull out six cups of instant noodles. With Kagome's whispering instructions, Shippo was able to turn on Kagome's portable fire and he started cooking the ramen.
After just a couple of minutes the smell of the noodles got to Inuyasha's noise. Sniff Sniff. "Mmmm..." He groaned and opened his eyes. He pulled his arms away from Kagome to rub his eyes and began looking around to try and find where the smell was coming from.
The smell of the ramen noodles didn't only bring Inuyasha out of his slumber; shortly after the half demon woke up, Sango and Miroku and kitty Kilala woke up too and came over to where breakfast was being served. Koga was the last to wake up and to everyone's surprise, the wolf demon got up from the sleeping back and joined the group for breakfast. His wounds had healed over night thanks to his demon blood.
When breakfast was served and eaten quietly, everyone took turns redressing each other wounds from the day before. Thanks to his demon blood, the gashes in Koga's legs had healed quickly overnight and they were in the beginning stages of closing up while the bruising on his ribs were already starting to fade. According to the wolf demon, his body still ached, the faint echoes of the broken bones he probably sustained from the giant boomerang but he was sure the soreness would go away within the next couple of days.
After wounds were taken care of, everyone went outside and headed towards the village's cemetery. They held a funeral for Kohaku where they buried him next to Sango's father and the rest of the villagers. After Kohaku's body was laid to rest in the ground next to the rest of the villagers, Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo and Koga left to pack everything up back at the house; leaving Sango and Kilala alone to say their final goodbyes to the fallen. Miroku stayed by Sango's side for support and comfort.
There were no words that were said when Kagome and the others left. Miroku didn't question the silence; he just stayed beside Sango and waited for her to be ready. She was sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest as Kilala sat beside her quietly.
He watched her say her final goodbyes to her little brother and watched as she got up from the ground and dusted her skirt off. When she turned to look at him, he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks and as he whispered her name, he wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug.
They held each other for a moment but Sango soon pulled away to look up at him. He saw the tears in her eyes and lifted his hand to wipe them away with his thumb.
"I'll always be here for you, Sango." Miroku whispered quietly as he held the weeping girl in his arms. His heart went out for the demon slayer, remembering how she had lost her entire village and her family in one night of horrible bloodshed. And to make things even more of a nightmare, Naraku and used her little brother as a slave for the past three years. "Your brother's soul is free now from Naraku's evil."
At his words, Sango was overcome by sadness and fresh tears spilled over her cheeks. "I… I'm all alone." She sobbed uncontrollably, burying her face in Miroku's chest.
Miroku hugged Sango closer to him as he felt her body rock with sobs. "No Sango..." He whispered down to the demon slayer. "I'm here with you. You'll never have to be alone again."
Sango looked back up at Miroku, her eyes red from her crying. She was about to say something when Miroku leaned down and captured her lips in a soft kiss. Her eyes widened for a moment, not used to the feel of Miroku's lips but soon closed her eyes and relaxed, kissing him back. She couldn't stop the pain of her heartbreaking for the loss of her brother but Miroku's words of not being alone rang through her head.
Miroku ended the soft kiss, not wanting to push Sango in her heartbroken state and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her again. "I'll be here for you Sango. And you know Kagome and the others are there for you too. We can be your family now." He whispered.
o-o-o-o
After returning to the main house where the others were waiting, the group packed up their travel gear and they started on their way back to the village. Koga joined along their journey back saying that his pack would catch up with them on the trail.
The journey home was uneventful; no demons getting in their way along their travels for they were all still in hiding from Naraku. Along the walk, the group discussed what they were going to do with the jewel now what it was complete. They knew that once the demons of the land found out about Naraku's death and the completion of the jewel, they would soon seek it out for themselves for power.
They were about half way back to the village when Koga stopped in his tracks from where he was walking beside Kagome and turned to look behind them. His nose twitched and a smile graced his lips. "They finally caught up to me." He said and as he finished what he was saying, the rest of the group heard the faint howls from wolves.
The group stopped and watched as Koga's travelling pack caught up with them at the top of the hill. Ginta and Hakkaku approached the group, their chests heaving and mouths open as they tried to catch their breath from running. Behind the two wolf demons were the rest of Koga's pack which were the wolves that the wolf demons commanded.
"Koga we found you!" Ginta exclaimed as he bent over on his knees to catch his breath.
"We thought we were never going to catch up with you!" Hakkaku gasped, leaning on a nearby tree for support.
"Don't have to worry about not having to catch up to him anymore." Inuyasha smirked from beside Kagome. "Without those jewel shards in your legs, you're just a normal wolf demon like the rest of them."
"Inuyasha, that wasn't very nice." Kagome scolded and turned to smile at the wolf demon. "I guess you're going to head back to the mountains now?"
"Yup." The wolf demon smiled back at the girl in front of him, ignoring the dog demon's remark. "I'll come visit from time to time, to make sure this runt is taking care of you."
Kagome smiled and stepped closer to Koga to give him a goodbye hug. "I look forward to your visit. Tell Ayame I say hi and I hope the two of you will be very happy."
Ginta and Hakkaku stood there staring at the young girl and their pack leader, whispering to each other and questioning if they missed something.
"You better treat Kagome well mutt face." Koga lightly snarled over at Inuyasha as he gave Kagome another short hug. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways for now. See you later everyone."
And with goodbyes done, Koga joined his wolf pack and together they ran off into the forest heading back to the mountains where they called home.
o-o-o-o
After saying their goodbyes to Koga and his pack, the group made their way through the land and just as the sun started to touch the land in the west at sunset they reached the top of a small hill and saw their village at the bottom. They had made it back.
As the sun set in the sky, the villagers were finishing up their chores for the day and settling their children in bed so no one noticed the tired group's arrival.
As they made their way through the village, they found Keade in her herb garden collecting the last of her plants for the day. The old priestess was getting up to her feet with her basket when she spotted the group coming into the village. The shock of seeing the group's return made her gasp out loud and drop her basket of herbs. She greeted them at the entrance of her hut. "Ah ye have returned in one piece! Bless the gods!" Keade smiled as he hugged both Sango and Kagome. "Did ye win?"
Kagome's tired face broke out in a smile as she walked up to the old priestess with the sleeping Shippo in her arms. "Yes, we won." She whispered. "Naraku is gone forever and we have the Shikon Jewel."
"Wonderful. Come inside and tell me all about it." Keade said, inviting everyone into the hut. The group sat around the fire in Keade's hut as they had supper and retold the final battle with Naraku to the old priestess.
o-o-o-o
The next day everyone slept in to regain their strength from the battle. By the time everyone woke up it was around lunch time and after eating, they took a walk out into Inuyasha's Forest to where the Bone Eater's Well was.
The well that rested in the forest was the connection between Kagome's time and Inuyasha's time. When the group got to the clearing, Kagome pulled out the chain around her neck. The slim silver chain had the Shikon Jewel attached to it and when it was pulled out it started to sparkle a soft pink in the sun.
They had talked about the issue of the jewel during the travel back to the village and they agreed that Kagome who was the rightful protector of the jewel should be the one who should make the wish. The young girl had spent the majority of the night tossing and turning about the issue of the right wish and she had finally come up with a perfect wish.
She took a moment and looked around as each member of the group and looked down at the jewel in her hands. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and made her wish. 'Please Shikon Jewel. Please let the well stay open and let my friends pass back and forth through our worlds.' She wished.
There was a sudden flash of pink that erupted from between Kagome's hands as the jewel granted her wish. Everyone turned away from the bright light and when the light went away, Kagome opened her hands and saw that the jewel was gone.
Their eyes turned to the well and saw it was glowing a soft pink. Kagome turned from looking at the well and back to the others with a smile on her face. "Well, I guess it's time to try and see if it worked."
Sango, Miroku and Shippo nodded nervously. They all held hands with Shippo on Miroku's shoulder and Kilala on Sango's. They looked down at the well and its sparking pink mist as the bottom.
"Ready? On the count of three; 1… 2… 3… GO!"
The group closed their eyes and jumped into the well. Blue and pinkish light surrounded them as they went 500 years into the future to Kagome's time.
Inuyasha and Kagome landed on the hard group in Kagome's era on their feet, used to the time travel after four years. When they landed on the ground, Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and smiled but turned around when they heard a series of groans and saw Miroku, Shippo and Sango on their butts, Kilala clinging onto Sango's shoulder with her fur bristled.
Kagome helped Sango up to her feet as Inuyasha helped Miroku. "It worked!" The raven haired girl smiled brightly.
As Kagome helped Sango up to her feet, the demon slayer laughed as she dusted off her bottom. "Yes but I guess we'll have to work on the landing."
Kagome laughed and turned to show everyone the rope ladder that was hanging on the side of the well. Inuyasha took Kagome's giant yellow bag and jumped out of the well with Shippo and Kilala on his shoulders while the humans climbed up the ladder to get out of the well.
When they climbed out of the well, Kagome walked up the stairs and opened the door of the well house. "Guys, welcome to my time!" She said, showing everyone the courtyard of her family's shrine.
Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kilala stepped out of the well house and into the courtyard and looked around in awe at Kagome's era. Since there were no visitors at the shrine at the moment, Kagome and Inuyasha showed them around the Higurashi Shrine; the gift shop, the prayer shrine and the God Tree.
"See. This is the very same tree that is in your time." Kagome said as her friends looked up at the tree. She took a moment to smile at the tree that held so many memories for her and then turned to lead them to her house.
"Hello? Anyone home?" Kagome yelled out as she took off her shoes and walked into the hallway. No one answered – no one was home. She shrugged to herself and led everyone into the kitchen where she found a note on the microwave.
Dear Kagome,
If you're reading this, that means your home but we're not. I hope you and your friends are all ok. Sorry we're not home to greet you but we had to go to the vet because Buyo ate a whole fish again. While we were out, we figured it would be a good time to go shopping to restock the fridge on ramen just in case you came back. There is some ramen left for Inuyasha in the pantry. Say hi to him for Sota. If you're staying home, see you at six.
Love Mom
"Well it looks like it's just us for a while." She said out loud as she reread the note and then looked at the clock on the microwave. It was 2:46pm. She sweatdropped – hopefully Buyo was ok. "So what do you guys what to-" She paused what she was saying as she only saw Inuyasha leaning against the wall when she turned around. "Where did they go?"
"All over." Inuyasha said simply as he looked at the ceiling when he heard a thud upstairs.
"They didn't go outside did they?" She panicked. She could only imagine the nightly news that night; 'Crazed and strangely dressed hooliguns causing problems downtown.'
Inuyasha looked down at Kagome from where he was leaning against the wall and saw Kagome's panicked look. "You worry too much. They're still in the house. You'd think I'd let them outside when they don't know a thing about this time?"
"Hey Kagome what are these?" Miroku came into the room holding a pair of scissors and a pair of sunglasses.
"They're called scissors and we use them to cut paper and other materials." Kagome explained, taking them from the monk. "And these are sunglasses; we wear them to protect our eyes from the sun." She showed Miroku how to put them on and the monk became excited by the new view he had on the world and walked out of the room exclaiming something about fascinating inventions in Kagome's era.
"Kagome what is this?" Sango asked holding up a blowdryer.
"It's called a hairdryer. You plug it into the wall and it blows warm air to make your hair dry faster." Kagome explained and watched the demon slayer leave to go find something new to ask about.
"Kagome? What's this thing?" Shippo bounced into the room holding something.
"That's a phone. People in my time use it to call other people who live somewhere else. You push certain buttons in the right order and you can talk to that person." Kagome explained.
"Oh…." Shippo said in amazement as he looked down at the phone. "Like this?" He asked and the little kitsune started to push buttons in a random order.
"Oh don't do that!" Kagome exclaimed and grabbed the phone from the little kit but just as she grabbed it, she heard someone on the other end and stopped to listen and try and make up an excuse for why they accidentally called.
"Mushi mushi! You're the ninth caller!" The person on the other end said happily. "Congratulations! You just won a trip for four to the United States!"
"I'm really sorry! My little cousin grabbed the phone and -" Kagome paused for a moment. "Wait, what did I win?"
"You won a trip to Florida for a three night stay." The radio host repeated on the other line.
"Really?" Kagome screeched, making Inuyasha and Shippo look in her direction with question.
"Yeah, what's your name?" The radio host asked in his cheerful voice.
"Kagome Higurashi."
"Ok Kagome, stay on the line for a moment and we'll get you those plane tickets." The host explained and then went on to saying which song he was going to play next.
Five minutes later and Kagome hung up the phone and squealed loudly.
"What's got you so bubbly?" Inuyasha asked as he continued to try and keep Shippo away from the blender.
"I just won a trip to Florida!" Kagome giggled and grabbed the little fox child in her arms and hugged him tightly. "And it's all because of you Shippo!"
"Um, you're welcome?" Shippo said, not really understanding what just happened.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
The Storm by AniuLonewolf