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Chapter 31: Theres No Place Like Home
The hours bled into days, which bled into weeks. Tamako's depression turned into determination to try and make the well work. She didn't spend any time with Kohaku, or really her grandmother either. She'd spent so long in the well house, concentrating, staring at the well.
Sitting on the steps just by the well, concentrating on her power. The power of every part of her. She'd also been working on controlling her youkai. That was a pretty dangerous thing to do without another demon there to control her if she lost her own carefully sewn together control.
It'd been a month since she'd seen the future Kouga. Her own powers had grown as she learned to control the powers of her spirit.
Everyone usually left her alone, left her to what she was doing by herself. But, that afternoon Kohaku slid the doors open, glancing inside at her, watching her.
She sat there, her eyes closed. Gently she moved to hold her fingers out in front of her, cupping them as if to hold something. Her eyes opened halfway, red starting to bleed through the whites of her eyes as her aura spiked. Kohaku could sense the demonic aura of her getting stronger, which scared him a little.
As her aura spiked, small floating pieces of redish pink glitter started to form within the palm of her hand. Starting to swirl around in her hands, the glitter starting to form into the shape of a jewel. The power coming from just the image of a jewel made Kohaku's eyes widen a little. It felt stronger than the shikon no tama ever had.
Slowly extending her hands forward, cupping her hands as the jewel formed. The Kanju jewel slowly started to form within her fingers in a solid mass. The whites of her eyes were bled into red, but the gold of her pupils still existed within the red. While her youkai was drawing out, she was still in control.
Jagged purple lines started to form on her cheeks as she drew the Kanju out of herself. The Kanju was the essence of her human miko spirit, leaving her youkai spirit within her.
Holding the jewel out towards the well as her claws and fangs grew. But, she was still in control, fighting herself to keep control, keep her mind on a goal. And, when she thought of her mate, her youkai listened. She needed to get control in order to get back to him.
Standing up to her feet, stepping towards the well, looking down at it. Bringing her fingers back once the jewel was formed, the jewel floated in the air just in front of her. "Go. Open the well for me. Do this, my will...please." she requested.
The jewel shined brighter for a minute, making Kohaku wince a little. The jewels power spiked along with the brightness. It was almost trying to look into the sun looking at the jewel.
But, when the light diminished, the sounds of birds came from the well. If one looked down it, you could see the sky. The sky of the feudal era.
Tamako took in a sharp gasp, the jewel thrusting itself back into her chest, making her fall back.
Kohaku saw her fall and ran to catch her before she hit the ground, just barely making it. "Tamako! You did it..I think." he said, looking at the well.
A smile came to her lips when she heard that. "R-Really?" she asked weakly. She'd used a lot of her strength and power to draw out the jewel of her spirit. Slowly she pushed herself up, with Kohaku's help. Moving to kneel next to the well and looking down at it, smiling a bit more as she saw the sky. Taking in a deep breath, she could smell the scents she was familiar with of the feudal era.
Resting her hands on the edges of the well, she pushed herself to stand up, Kohaku standing just behind her. "Here." he said. Moving his arms around her and picking her up bridal style. She was weak and would need to rest after that.
He stepped up onto the edge of the well as she moved her arms around his neck gently. Jumping forward into the well, they felt the blue weightlessness take over them as they passed through the barrier of time. She still couldn't believe she'd done it, opened the well.
When they landed on solid ground, the smells of the fresh air, flowers, grass and all assaulted her. It smelled so much better here than it did in Tokyo.
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Kouga had stayed by the well the entire time, hoping that she would find her way back. That afternoon he was sat by a tree just by the well, looking at it. Taking in a breath, her scent caught his attention and he stood up. "Tamako?" he asked.
Running up the few feet to the well, he glanced down, seeing Kohaku holding Tamako. A smile spread across his lips as he moved to jump into it. The well was close quarters, especially with three people in the well. Moving to take Tamako from Kohaku's arms, Kouga brought her close to his chest, gripping her a little and resting his nose to bury in her hair. "You are here..." he said slowly.
She smiled to him, moving her arms from Kohaku to Kouga. Wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "Koi..." she said, hiding her face on the side of his neck a little. It suddenly felt so perfect. She didn't even feel as Kouga took a leap up, landing on the side of the well and stepping off into the grass. Slowly he sunk down to sit by the wood, holding her in his lap. All this, Tamako didn't notice as she just held onto him.
Holding her slowly, Kouga rested one hand on the small of her back, looking down at her face and smiling a little. Moving his hands up and cupping her face, leaning her back to unhide her face from his neck. Leaning down, his lips claimed hers in a heated kiss. This month had felt like an eternity to him. He'd never been away from her for that long, and he didn't intend on ever doing it again.
She kissed him back, sitting up on his lap a little. Her hands moved up, taking ahold of his wrists and gripping them just lightly as she kissed him deeper, pressing up closer to him.
Tasting her lips against his made him smile into the kiss. He'd dreamed of kissing her again, but this he knew was real. His dreams that plagued him during the night were never quite like this. He could never taste her in his dreams. Now, he could. It was real.
Tilting her head to one side as she leaned up to him, moving her fingers down his arms a little.
They held the kiss for several minutes, enough time for Kohaku to climb from the well. Once Kohaku saw them, he blushed and looked away. He should just let them be for a few minutes, he knew that.
But, there was someone who was not willing to let them be. Inuyasha. He'd smelled his daughters scent from where he'd been just outside the village. It'd been hard for him to control his youkai, the demon inside him yelling out to his entire body to find and protect his daughter. And once he caught her scent, he ran towards it. Stopping just in front of the couple sitting there.
The whites of Inuyasha's eyes had bled to a deep red color, his gold pulsing into his pupils as he laid eyes on his daughter. The purple jagged lines still etched across his cheeks. "Tamako..." he said in the husk voice of his demon.
At the sound of her fathers voice, she leaned back from the kiss, looking up at him. Tears slowly started to rim her eyes as she saw her father. "D-D-Daddy.." she said slowly. He was probably the one person that could pull her from her mate at that moment.
Standing up, she lunged into his arms, her own arms encircling his waist and her cheek pressing into the haori of her fathers fire rat kimono. "Daddy!" she said again, closing her eyes tightly, her fingers moving to grip the cloth at the back of his haori.
His stiff shoulders relaxed as he felt her against his chest. Moving his arms around her tightly and holding her up close to him. Letting his eyes close and leaning his chin down to rest on the top of her head. "Thank Kami...you're okay...you came back..." he said slowly. Shifting to rest his cheek more against her head as he held her. He had practically been going crazy at the idea of losing his daughter, even if it was just for the next five hundred years. It was still five hundred years he'd be losing her for.
Slowly her fingers moved up to rest on the backs of her fathers shoulders, gripping his haori again tightly. "Yeah...I'm okay. Now I am, anyway..." she said, glancing up at him a little and smiling to him, tears still in her eyes. She'd seen future Kouga, but she hadn't seen the future version of her father, or mother. Kouga didn't even tell her anything about them, either. So it worried her, quite a lot.
Behind them, Kouga stood up and moved to rest one hand on Tamako's arm. When she looked at him he only smiled a little. "Do us all a favor...no falling down that well again." he said.
"Yeah...don't do that again...ever." Inuyasha said. It was probably the one time that he ever fully agreed with Kouga.
Them agreeing made her blink and only smile. "Hey! You two agree on something." she said. Moving one arm away from her father and moving to take Kouga's hand. Intertwining her fingers with his, she gripped it slowly and brought it up to her so his hand was in-between her and Inuyasha's chests.
The small bit of contact with the wolf didn't even make Inuyasha flinch. He just nodded. "We do. Probably the one and only time that will ever happen." he said, slowly looking down at her. His eyes had slowly lost the red in them, and the other effects of his demon were slowly starting to wear off.
Kouga didn't flinch either. He just wanted to be close to Tamako, even if it meant he was close to Inuyasha, as well.
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They'd all stood there for a while, just relishing in the fact that she was back before they went back to her parents hut for the day. Kohaku had veered off from them to visit his sisters hut.
Once they settled down after dinner, Tamako smiled and moved to sit on Kouga's lap, her back against his chest. The movement made him smile and wrap his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her shoulder. Her fingers found his arms, cuddling into him happily.
She'd also gotten the share of hugs from her mother, but it was Kouga she wanted to be close to so bad, the one her soul cried out for her to cuddle up to and never let go. She almost couldn't wait until they got home back to their den tomorrow night. Since it was late, and she'd been gone so long, they'd agreed to stay with her parents for the night.
"How did you even make the well work?" Kagome asked curiously.
Looking up at her mother, Tamako smiled as she cuddled back close to Kouga. Feeling Kouga's chin against her shoulder as she did that. "Well...I trained myself for a while. I knew I had this power in me and I knew it could work..."
"How would you know that?" Kagome asked.
Glancing back at her mate with a smile. "Kouga told me." Tamako said, leaning to kiss the tip of his nose gently.
"Wait? I told you?" Kouga asked curiously, looking up at him.
Nodding slowly as she cuddled close to him. "Yeah. It was crazy. I was walking down the street of Tokyo and I swore I smelled something familiar. I walked into this shop, and there you were, Kouga, standing behind the counter. I flipped out. I was sure it was some sort of dream and I'd wake up crying. But...it wasn't. You were real. You were there." she said.
"You saw Kouga?" Inuyasha asked.
"Mmhm. I saw him. At first he was confused, and so was I. But, we figured it out. I saw Kouga's future self. When he first saw me he talked to me like I was my future self, asking if I was okay and worried that I was sick..." she said. Giggling a little, a small blush crossing her cheeks. "He called out of work, he was actually talking to Ginta on the phone. And Ginta was asking if I'd gotten pupped again.."
"Again? You mean...?" Kouga asked, blushing a little himself, looking at her. "How many pups will we even have?" he asked. "Wait...whats a phone?"
"One question at a time, dear. A phone is this thing you use to contact people over long distances. And, yeah, I mean we have pups. I don't know how many, but...I saw one." she said, biting her bottom lip. "A few days later I got so upset and so lost...I didn't know what to do. I'd found out where our future selves lived, and I ran there. It was pretty late. But, Kouga answered the door. After we were talking, this...little girl walked downstairs..." she said, remembering. "She was so beautiful. I think she looked about four or five...and she had silver hair and ears like yours. And...and when she opened her eyes, one was blue and one was golden. And she called you daddy..." she told him, glancing back at him.
He listened to her and smiled softly. "Wow. Wish I could have seen her..."
"You will." she told him. Leaning and kissing him again slowly.
"Okay, enough kissing in my house." Inuyasha said, looking at them. "So how did this future Kouga help?"
Leaning back from the kiss, Tamako looked back to her father. "Oh, oh right. Well, he didn't...really. I mean, he told me that I get back to the feudal era eventually and I do it on my own with my own power. It just sort of...confirmed for me...that I'd get home, that I'd see everyone again. And I decided to try on my own. I remembered the jewel you told me about, mama, inside my spirit...and I learned how to bring it out without losing control. I don't think it can stay out that long though..." she said.
Listening to her daughter, Kagome's eyes widened a little. "You brought out the Kanju on your own?"
"Yeah. I can. It takes a lot of power. But...its like the jewel listens to me. Its crazy. And it feels so, so strong in my hands. My youkai comes out every time but..." she started.
But, her father interrupted. "You let your youkai out on purpose?!" he yelled, standing up and looking at her. "In Tokyo? With all those humans around!?"
Looking at her father, her ears lowered slowly. "Yeah, I did daddy. But I'm fine, I swear. I controlled it. Plus, Kohaku could have stopped me if need be..."
"You were playing with fire, Tamako! You should have had another demon there to help control you! What were you thinking?!"
"I was thinking that I needed to get home!" she yelled right back, growling a little. "I was thinking that my soul was split in two and it hurt every single day! I was thinking that I needed to get back here, to my family!"
Kouga held her a bit more, rubbing her stomach. "Koi...don't argue with your father. You haven't seen what he went through this month. What either of us did." he said, actually sticking up for Inuyasha.
The gesture made her blink, looking back at him and nodding. "I suppose your right..." she said, leaning back against Kouga's chest and sighing a little. "I'm sorry daddy. Its what I had to do...or else I couldn't come back. The shikon no tama doesn't exist anymore, and the Kanju I thought was the only jewel that could bring me back here to you."
He calmed down a little from her words, sighing and nodding. "I suppose...but...but next time you try to train like that, don't do it alone."
"I won't." she said, smiling.
Glancing back at Kouga, blushing a little. "I made a decision, though..."
"Whats that?" Kouga asked, rubbing one of her arms gently, looking up at her.
"I want a pup. Like...now. I don't want to wait."
Picking his head up, he nodded, leaning and kissing her cheek. "Then I'll give you a pup. Not right this second though...I think your parents might wish us to wait."
Blushing deeper, she giggled and nodded. "Okay. I just...wanted you to know." she said.
Slowly glancing up at her parents and sighing. "I just...don't want to wait. I was so afraid I wouldn't make it back here, that I wouldn't see any of you again...it scared the life out of me."
Kagome nodded slowly. "I felt the same way when the well sealed behind me..." she said, sighing. "Oh...how is my family?"
Her ears lowered a little. "Grandma is fine. Great Grandpa...isn't though. He passed away a few years ago. And Souta is living in Odawara, almost two hours south a drive. He's an architect. Thats what grandma told me anyway."
Smiling as Kagome nodded. "Good, I'm glad they're okay. But, poor grandpa." she said with a sigh.
"Does Mrs. Higurashi still have that cat?" Inuyasha asked.
"You mean Buyo?" Kagome inserted.
Tamako giggled and shook her head. "No. Souta took him to Odawara with him, and she didn't mention anything other than that."
Slowly Tamako moved to stand up, yawning a bit. "But, its bedtime. Come on Kouga, I'm sure we can sleep in my old room tonight."
"Keh, make sure thats all you do with my daughter under my roof, wolf." Inuyasha said, shooting him a look.
Kouga chuckled and stood up behind Tamako, nodding. "Don't worry, mutt, nothing will happen."
A sigh came from Tamako, but she smiled, not bothering to correct them. It actually felt good, felt normal, to hear them arguing like the old days.
And, she was so glad to just have a chance to cuddle with the man she loved again. She missed his arms around her. They would wait for tomorrow night to start trying for their pup.