A/N: Thank you so much to innocentanimefan for their review on chapter 14! And yes, Midoriko is alive in their time (kind of) and Inuyasha and Kagome will get together soon. ;)

RxExR!

Timeless

Chapter 15 - Back to the Present

After the encounter with Midoriko, all of them were put slightly on edge. If a legendary priestess was also involved with Naraku and his lot then things were a lot worse than they had originally anticipated. Now that they had met Midoriko though, they put their full efforts back into finding the 'hole' that would let them jump back into their own time.

"Okay, let's think about this logically," Kagome began and everyone turned away from their thoughts to listen to what she had to say, "The bone eater's well was always in the same place, no matter what time I was in and when I came back to this time a short while back, I'm pretty sure that the others and I landed in the same place where we were standing back in our own time. So wouldn't it be the most logical conclusion if the hole that we need to go down or whatever is in exactly the same place as it was in our time?" She looked around at all of the others and Sango looked back at her thoughtfully.

"So we basically have to find our way back to the caves and then we can find the hole is what you're saying?" She asked.

"I think so, yes." Kagome nodded.

"Well, it's the best guess we have, and as you're the only one who's ever actually travelled through time rather frequently, it's probably also the answer." Miroku stated and Inuyasha nodded in agreement after thinking it over. It did sound right.

"Okay, well if I try to remember back to this time," Yukari furrowed her brows, "then I think we are probably in the forest that we travelled through back in our time." She looked over at Sesshomaru for confirmation.

"I do remember Mother telling us about staying close to her as a demon slayer village was close by." Sesshomaru stated.

"So we should try and find the village and from there we can find our way back home." Shippo looked ecstatic at the thought of leaving this time behind them.

"Okay, let's do that then." Miroku agreed.

"Kohaku." Sesshomaru looked at the young man who nodded, he knew what the demon lord wanted him to do.

"Come on Jaken, we're going on Ah-Un." He was already walking towards the herbivorous demon who also knew what he was supposed to do.

"But-" Jaken began, then saw the look on Sesshomaru's face. He sighed rather wearily and then followed Kohaku. When his master had that look in his eyes, there really was no way of saying 'no' or disobeying him.

The others merely watched Kohaku and Jaken in confusion and then realisation settled in as they saw Kohaku and Jaken mount Ah-Un and take off into the sky.

"I see. They can get a better view from in the sky." Miroku muttered.

"Should we do the same on Kirara? The more eyes, the better." Kagome asked and Miroku nodded after looking over at Sango who pouted a bit as due to her condition it wouldn't be the safest thing in the world for her to do. By some unspoken consent, Inuyasha accompanied Kagome and sat down on Kirara behind her. Shippo made a noise underneath his breath. It really was rather obvious to anyone watching of just how much the white-haired hanyou cared for Kagome.

"We'll travel by foot then." Miroku said to Shippo, Sango, Yukari and Sesshomaru.

"Okay." Yukari nodded and began to follow after Sesshomaru who had already beginning to walk away. It was obvious that he really had no interest at all in travelling in a group. He probably wanted some peace and quiet after being exposed to his brother's companions for so many days in a row now.

Shippo began to run through the undergrowth, he felt quite relieved to have some time to himself too. He wasn't quite as young as he had been four years ago when he had been found by Inuyasha and Kagome and had begun travelling with them, therefore he had begun to value time that he got for himself where he could merely think. Yes, he was still as curious as he had been back then and yes, he was still a child, but he had learned that having some time to oneself really was a blessing.

Especially when one had a kitsune master as talkative as his own.

Sango and Miroku were also quite glad to have some time to themselves and their hands met and Sango's slipped comfortably into Miroku's and they gave off the perfect image of a pregnant woman with her husband out on a stroll. They were still looking for the village, but they were also allowing each other some time to relax after the chaotic atmosphere of the last few weeks and travelling on the road.

Hopefully it wouldn't take long to find the slayer's village and therefore the way back to their own time.

~.~.~.~.~

It was past midday and they had already landed to eat lunch before launching off into the sky once more and there were still no signs of the slayer's village. Kagome had to admit that if she weren't such an eternally optimistic person, she would have begun despairing quite a while back.

Luckily she had other things to worry about though that kept her from even thinking about despairing.

And they had absolutely nothing to do with finding the slayer's village or finding their way back to their own time.

It had to do with the fact that she had her arms clamped tightly around Inuyasha's waist as he sat in front of her on Kirara, mirroring the way that he had kept a tight grip on her when they had been flying before lunch and she had been sitting in front of him.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha's voice made her pull away from her thoughts and concentrate on him and what he had to say.

"Yes?" She asked as his head remained turned to the front so that she was unable to actually see his expression.

"I was just wondering..." He swallowed and then remained silent. Her brows furrowed in irritation as she waited for him to continue. He didn't.

"What were you wondering about?" She asked then because she really didn't like to be left hanging after her curiousity was piqued.

"Um..." He coughed.

"Inuyasha." His name passed her lips more as a sigh than anything else.

"Iwaswonderingwhetheryouwantedtogooutwithme?" His sentence came out garbled and quick and she couldn't really be all that sure whether she had understood him at all.

"What?" She asked, the annoyance now beginning to leak into her throat. Kirara shook her head in exasperation as she continued to fly. She had understood what Inuyasha had said perfectly fine but Kagome did not have any demonic hearing therefore she wouldn't have. She was glad that the hanyou had finally managed to say something about his feelings but this...

Inuyasha cleared his throat and turned around and it was the first time that Kagome noted how absolutely nervous he looked.

"I was wondering whether you wanted to go out with me?" Her mouth fell open, words completely escaping her. "When we get back to our own time of course." He added softly, taking in her shocked expression.

There were many things that she wanted to say but the first thing that came from her mouth once she had found her voice again was; "Where did you learn about going out?"

Kirara felt like banging her head against a very hard tree. Seriously, that was the first thing Kagome had thought to say after such a question?

Inuyasha blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head, a gesture that Kagome had seen him use whenever he was nervous.

"Well, when we went to your time, I heard you and your friends talk about it a lot and I'm not exactly sure if you like me so I just thought that this was maybe the best way to..." And now he was rambling. Kirara was seriously considering crashing into a tree right now to relieve the tension. Yes, they may not be as old as she was and know how to ask certain things but really, this was taking the cake on awkward proposals. Because in the long run, it couldn't really be seen as anything else although the two morons sitting on her might like to kid themselves into thinking differently. Anyone with eyes in their head could see that they were going to end up together.

And then Kagome did something that assured Kirara that at least one of them wasn't as idiotic as they sometimes acted.

She pulled Inuyasha down and kissed him on the lips, thereby effectively shutting him up and stopping his rambling. Blessed silence met Kirara's ears as she heard a bird chirp somewhere in the forest below.

It was a soft kiss and both Inuyasha and Kagome were shocked by the amount of feelings the kiss appeared to project to each other.

"I'd love to." Kagome grinned at him and this time Inuyasha turned around a bit more (without falling off of Kirara of course) and pulled her closer for another kiss.

"That's great." He returned and kissed her on the lips again.

Kirara knew that she would be the only one looking for the demon slayer's village for the next hour or so, as the two on her back were obviously occupied with other things.

~.~.~.~.~

"What about Hikaru?" Sango asked and Miroku looked at the bush they were passing by, deep in thought.

"Light or radiance? That would be a good name but I'm not sure if that would fit." He replied.

"Our relationship blossomed after the light and radiance of the Shikon no Tama." Sango pointed out.

"Yeah, but do you want to tell our son that reason when he asks why he was named like that?" Miroku asked.

Sango pondered on that thought for a couple of seconds. "I guess I can see your point." She conceded.

"Itsuki?" Miroku questioned next.

"I am not naming my son after some timber trees." Sango said with utter conviction.

"Osamu?" Sango asked after a couple of minutes of walking in silence.

"While the meaning may be nice as I'd like our son to be disciplined and studious, it just doesn't feel right." Miroku replied.

"Yasu?" Was Miroku's next attempt.

"Peace?" Sango nodded. "I like it but it sounds a bit feminine as it could also be a girl's name."

"Hmm..." Miroku stared at the bird flying above them in great concentration. "Tomohiro?"

"Our village may be in the west but that doesn't mean that our son's name has to have that meaning." Sango replied. Picking out a name for their son was proving to be quite difficult.

"Taro?" Was her next guess.

"It's like predestining him to grow up larger than us and maybe not necessarily in height." Was Miroku's response.

Both of them sighed.

"Aki?" The next suggestion came from Miroku.

"He's not being born in the autumn." Sango sent her husband a look and he just rolled his eyes, it didn't make the name any less nice.

"How about Daiki?" Sango asked after they checked that Sesshomaru and Yukari had gone along the same road at the crossing they were at before continuing with the name suggestions.

"He may feel pressured to attain the glory that his name suggests. And he's not a noble." Miroku pointed out.

Shippo rolled his eyes in exasperation. This conversation had been going on for hours now and Sango and Miroku were still no closer to finding a name for their child than they had been at the beginning of the day. He personally like the name Kazuki as it meant harmony and/or hope but that was just his opinion.

So far he had been happily staying out of sight as he explored the undergrowth between the various bushes and trees, straying a bit further from the path to see if he would maybe be able to find the village by doing so.

So far he hadn't had any luck. He wondered whether any of the other groups had been having any luck but as Kagome and Inuyasha were in one group on Kirara in the sky, he doubted that they were getting much done. The two of them were just a bit too distracted with one another. Kirara would probably tell him all about it once the evening reached them which wasn't that far off as it was in the middle of the afternoon already.

Then there were Yukari and Sesshomaru somewhere in front of them. He didn't know how well they worked together but they looked like two people who actually concentrated on what they were supposed to do. Sesshomaru was a bit too serious for his liking anyway, but that might mean that they would actually spot the village as those two were also in front of them by quite a bit.

And Kohaku and Jaken were also in the sky with Ah-Un. They were probably also concentrating on what they were supposed to do. Following a guy like Sesshomaru probably meant that you did what you had to do when you had to do it. And as they were in the sky, Shippo reckoned that they would probably find the village out of all of them.

As he continued to listen to the conversation of Miroku and Sango in the background he wondered rather absently why they hadn't even thought of any girl names yet. The baby might be a girl and he had no idea how his two friends had come to think that they were having a boy. They would probably be in shock if a girl was born as they hadn't even considered the possibility until now.

~.~.~.~.~

"So why did you actually pretend to not know my name when I came with the missive from your mother?" Yukari asked and Sesshomaru looked over at her, feeling slightly surprised. They hadn't spoken one word to each other ever since they had set off this morning in their pair and he wondered why she was asking him this now.

He didn't answer and after a couple of minutes she sent him an exasperated look. "Pretending to not have heard my question isn't going to cut it." She told him bluntly.

"Maybe because I didn't remember." He commented finally.

She snorted. "Yeah and I'm actually a guy and can fly." She looked over at him again. "Seriously, we lived together with your mother for three hundred years, saw each other every single day. And you think I'm going to buy that?" She sounded almost incredulous.

They continued to walk in silence.

He knew why he had pretended to have difficulty remembering her name, he also knew why had pretended to be so aloof. But those were reasons that she didn't have to know.

~.~.~.~.~

"There it is." Kohaku said and Jaken looked over to where the young man was pointing, feeling complete and utter relief as he spotted a village in front of the mountains that they could also see. It was almost evening and after being in the sky for the better part of the day, he could hardly wait to have solid ground underneath his feet.

And he was pretty sure that Kohaku felt the same with the amount of relief that was painted on his face.

"We should tell the others." Kohaku said next and Jaken merely nodded in assent. Ah-Un made a sound of happiness, flying around the whole day was beginning to tire him out.

With a speed that they did not believe that had been capable to achieve, they managed to fly around and quickly inform everyone. Kirara dropped Kagome and Inuyasha off near the village before flying back to get Sango, Shippo and Miroku. Ah-Un mirrored her actions, first dropping off Jaken and Kohaku before getting Sesshomaru and Yukari.

Everyone noticed that Kagome and Inuyasha appeared to be glowing. Kirara quickly began to fill in Shippo through a complex stream of sounds that reminded anyone of a cat.

"So now we just have to get through the village and into the cave?" Miroku looked around at the rest of them.

Nods met him from all around.

"The sun's nearly down, if we wait too long then the guards will be doing their rounds and on high alert, we should probably hurry." Sango stated, remembering how the village had functioned in her time and hoping that it was exactly the same right now.

"Okay." Inuyasha nodded and Kohaku took the head of the procession as they began to sneak in, successfully managing to avoid the guards. He, like Sango, still remembered the layout of the village and had the best chances of actually getting them through the village unscathed.

However, as always, things never do tend to run smoothly.

A little girl spotted them as she ran to get the doll that she had left in a more obscure corner of the village while playing and her scream of surprise quickly had guards and slayers come running in their direction.

"Shit." Inuyasha swore and they began to run towards the caves, Sango riding on Kirara as she really couldn't run in her state. They couldn't exactly fight the slayers because an injury to one of them might prove fatal in the long run and if one of them was Sango's and Kohaku's ancestor then they may cease to be.

Thus they found themselves nearly being pelted by arrows and various other weapons as they only just managed to avoid being skewered several times. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru growled in annoyance as they were unable to fight back which was a blow to their pride.

"The caves!" Kagome shouted out and they all swerved to the right and ran towards them, feeling relief at the fact that they looked exactly the same, namely open and accessible. The momentary shock of seeing a miko and a monk amongst the demons as well as other humans had given them an advantage as the slayers had frozen for a couple of seconds in surprise.

"Hole!" Came the next shout, this time from Shippo. There was a large hole in the ground. How come and why it was actually there they didn't question, all they needed to do was jump into it and hopefully return to their own time.

And with that thought they all jumped into the hole, one after the other, much to the shock of the following slayers who hadn't managed to catch up and therefore did not see them vanishing into the ground.

One person saw however and she was confused. She had met the three humans on the road and passed by the other two but something had made her suspicious so she had discreetly decided to follow them. Seeing them with demons had been a shock but something else frightened her much more.

It was the way that a pair of emerald green eyes met hers as the woman jumped into the hole, the way they reminded her of a little girl she had met not that long ago, the way they had recognised her own eyes and the confusion that remained long after the mysterious people had vanished.

She would die in that very cave not two months later and take the memory of those eyes and the little girl with her into the afterlife.