Timeline - A method used in psychotherapy to map significant life events, revealing patterns, emotional responses, and their impact. Often used in trauma therapy, it helps individuals process memories, reframe experiences, and gain insight into their personal narrative.
The air shimmered like a summer haze, golden light spilling into the clearing as something small and otherworldly emerged. Kagome's breath caught.
The creature was no larger than a newborn, its smooth, pale-green body shaped almost like a delicate, childlike spirit. Two deep blue eyes—far too large for its face—shimmered with an eerie intelligence, reflecting the world like untouched water. Thin, ribbon-like antennae curved from its forehead, twitching as if sensing something unseen. Its slender arms and legs hung weightlessly, but it didn't move like a child. It hovered effortlessly, translucent wings vibrating in a blur, filling the air with a soft, melodic hum.
Kagome stared, more curious than afraid. The creature pulsed with something—something ancient, something powerful. And yet… there was warmth in it. A gentleness. The moment their eyes met, Kagome felt it—not words, not a voice, but a presence brushing against her thoughts, like a breeze stirring the surface of a quiet lake.
It was watching her. Studying her. Waiting.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. The air around the creature pulsed strangely, bending the light as though space itself warped in its presence. It was timeless. Boundless.
And it had been calling her.
Slowly, she reached out. The creature let out a soft, chiming trill, like wind whispering through sacred bells. Its antennae twitched, sensing the motion, and for a brief moment, it leaned forward as though to meet her touch.
"Nay, child, you mustn't!"
Kagome gasped and pulled her hand back, spinning to find Kaede a few feet away, panting.
"Kaede?" Kagome's voice wavered with confusion.
"That is the Voice of the Forest," Kaede said urgently. "You must not touch it, for it travels through time! If you move, it will take you with it."
Kagome's lips parted. Through time…? Her gaze flickered back to the floating creature, realization striking like a spark in the dark. If this being could move through time—could it take her forward?
Could it take her home?
A deep pang pulsed in her chest. She hadn't thought about her family in months, forcing herself to make peace with her decision to stay in the Feudal Era. But now, standing before this small, ethereal being, the longing she had buried clawed its way to the surface.
The creature cocked its head slightly, trilling once more. Then, it floated closer. Kagome inhaled sharply, instinctively stepping back.
The creature paused midair, tilting its head again in silent curiosity. Then, slowly, deliberately, it lifted one small hand. Not reaching—not demanding. Offering.
Something fluttered in Kagome's chest, something fragile and uncertain. It was asking her.
What does it want with her?Kaede wondered, her expression tight with unease.
Then, Kagome felt it—a pulse, gentle yet undeniable. The air trembled, rippling like the surface of a disturbed pond. A strange energy crackled through the clearing, neither demonic nor sacred. The creature hovered at the center of it all, its delicate wings beating in time with the unseen force weaving around them.
"Kagome!" Kaede called urgently. "Do not move! The Voice of the Forest is shifting through time!"
Kagome's breath hitched. She looked at the creature, her fingers tingling where the strange energy brushed against her skin. It gazed back, patient and knowing.
This was her choice.
For the first time since she had fallen through the Bone Eater's Well, someone—or something—was offering her a path forward. Kagome's hand trembled. Then, she reached out. A soft trill. A fleeting smile.
Then, the moment their fingers met— The air split apart with a piercing chime, high and echoing, like the song of a spirit calling from beyond the veil. The Voice of the Forest hovered at the heart of the storm, its tiny frame wreathed in emerald light, wings fluttering faster than the eye could follow.
Then—without warning—the world fractured.
Wind howled through the clearing, twisting leaves and dust into a spiraling vortex. Space around Kagome and the creature rippled, warping like heat rising from stone, bending reality itself. For a fleeting moment, time unraveled—past, present, and future bleeding together in flickering images too quick to grasp. Then, in a rush of blinding light— They were gone.
AN: SOOOO if you've ever watched Pokemon, you'll know that Celebi is a time-traveling pokemon. Two years or so ago, I rewatched Pokemon 4Ever and thought "omg imagine Kagome running into Celebi?" Thus, a fanfiction was born from that. I do plan on making this its own separate fanfiction in the future (if enough people like this premise), but this is what I imagine Celebi and Kagome's meeting to be like.
I wish the well hadn't closed, more so for Kagome's sake, but imagine she gets the chance to go home again?
and of course it's dramatic!