InuYasha Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ In Pursuit of the Green Dragon ❯ Special Delivery ( Chapter 36 )

The next day started with an interment ceremony for what remained of Kikyo. There was a small memorial shrine and grave marker located at the top of the hill behind Kaede's cottage. To Ed's surprise, both he and Alphonse were invited to attend.

Ed was feeling bleary and generally out-of-sorts with the world as he stood in respectful silence with the village's inhabitants and his traveling companions.

He had spent a sleepless night on the hard boards of Kaede's cottage, staring at the slow progress of a beam of moonlight coming through the single latticed window as he relived the afternoon's events.

Had he done the right thing by agreeing to Kikyo's request?

Kikyo had fucking begged him to do it, he told himself. How could he have refused to end her pain, when it was within his power to do so?

But why hadn't he found another way, another solution?

I used to be good at fixing things, he had thought. Almost immediately came a mocking rejoinder in the voice of his own guilt: Oh, really? Like you fixed your mother? Like you fixed Lior?

Ed had sighed, curled up, and tormented by regrets for the things he had done, as well as the things he hadn't, had waited for the moonlight to fade with dawn.

Standing next to him now, listening to Miroku pronounce a blessing over Kikyo's grave, Alphonse looked no better. He was pale, with dark shadows under his hazel eyes, and he had been conspicuously silent and unsmiling over the simple breakfast of green tea and rice-and-vegetable porridge.

Alphonse, too, had a spent a sleepless night in Kaede's cottage.

Neither Inuyasha nor Kagome had made an appearance at the evening meal, nor had they returned from wherever it was that they'd gone by the time Ed had been roped into helping transfer the thin futon mattresses from a storage shed to the cottage. Ed wasn't surprised--he'd seen how thinly Inuyasha's rage had covered his pain and grief, and knew that the hanyou would seek solitude to grieve.

But that Kagome had apparently gone to comfort him while he mourned another woman--well, that took a more generous heart than Ed knew he would have had in her place. It was clear--to him, at least--that Kagome loved Inuyasha with all her heart and soul. And that he was devoted to her, in turn, no matter his past relationship with Kikyo.

Al had apparently realized it, too--Ed had seen his brother's air of quiet hopefulness fade to depressed silence as the shadows had lengthened and Kagome remained absent.

Inuyasha and Kagome had emerged from the forest just after dawn.

Ed had slipped out of the cottage as soon as it grew light enough to see. He had been crouched over his shaving mirror, perched precariously on the chopping block used for kindling, trying scrape away enough of his whiskers to present a decent appearance at Kikyo's memorial service.

It would have been the painless work of an instant to use alchemy to achieve a clean-shaven look, but Kagome had taken the Jewel with her when she went to comfort Inuyasha.

Besides, Al had finally fallen asleep an hour or two earlier, and Ed wouldn't have had the heart to rouse him for the transmutation, anyway.

A movement glimpsed out of the corner of his eye had made him look up just in time to see the pair leave the shelter of the trees. They had been walking hand-in-hand, though Inuyasha had loosed his grip and stepped discreetly away from Kagome as soon as he had spotted Ed.

Both of them had looked strained and exhausted, and Ed had not missed the brief, tender touch that Kagome brushed along Inuyasha's cheek just before they had parted, she to visit the outhouse and he to stand guard outside the cottage, scowling into the middle distance.

Now, listening to Miroku chant Buddhist sutras over the small mound of newly-turned earth in front of the marker, Ed wondered what to do next.

Miroku stopped chanting. Kaede rang a hand-bell several times, and the monk raised his bare (and newly-healed) right hand in a gesture of blessing. With that, the memorial service was over, and Ed followed the others back down the stone stairs to the bottom of the hill.

Once there, Ed stood looking at what remained of the supplies that he, Al, and Professor Higurashi had brought with them. Should he bother lugging any of it back to 1925?

Assuming that they could even get back to 1925, he thought glumly.

The chances of anything actually going right at this point seemed pretty abysmal. But with Envy blown to useless smithereens, and Inuyasha rightfully resentful of all the pain and loss that Ed's arrival had brought him, how could he and Al possibly stay here?

This whole expedition, Ed decided, had been a fucking failure from beginning to end.

Then he saw Kohaku and Sango pass by, and saw Kohaku's grin as he said something to his sister. Okay, so I did one thing right.

Only that one thing, though.

And he still had to face Souta's brothers, and tell them that he had taught the professor just enough alchemy to allow him to kill himself in a truly spectacular fashion. Ed swallowed, feeling sick to his stomach at the prospect.

"You seem troubled," Miroku said, and Ed started. He had not noticed the monk's approach. "Are you not anticipating your return home?"

"Not home," Ed replied, bitterly. "We can't go home--not now." He sighed, and jammed his hands into his trouser pockets. "Without Envy, the best we can manage is maybe to return to Tokyo. And if we're really lucky, whatever I did to the well can be undone, and Kagome will be able to return to her own time. But Al and me--" Ed shrugged.

"Ah," Miroku said, sympathetically. He tucked his hands into the wide sleeves of his monk's robe, and gazed thoughtfully over the silvery mosaic of rice paddies surrounding the village. After a short period of contemplation, he asked, "Why can't you go home without the dragon?"

"Because to open the Gate between the world that Al and I came from, and this world, you need the blood of someone born on the other side of the Gate. Either that, or the Philosopher's Stone," Ed answered.

"Hm." Another period of contemplative silence, then Miroku asked, "Edward-sama, what is the difference between a transmutation powered by the jewel and one powered by this Philosopher's Stone?"

"Huh?" Ed was startled by the question. "Nothing, I guess."

"Well, then." Miroku smiled, a bit smugly. "Perhaps you should ask Kagome-sama if she will lend you the Jewel's power to open this gate you speak of."

"Can't see why she'd want to help us," Ed muttered, frowning. "We've done nothing but make trouble for her since this whole thing started."

"Perhaps because you would be doing her--all of us, actually--an enormous favor?" Miroku countered. "You see, one of the legends surrounding the Jewel is that it has the power to grant wishes, and in doing so, it will finally disappear from the world."

"You mean--you want us to use it all up?" Ed ran his gloved automail hand through his hair. "Doesn't she have something she wants to wish for? Or anyone else here?"

"There's nothing I want that the Jewel can give me," Kagome said, as she approached, followed closely by Inuyasha. "And sending you and Al-kun home seems a worthy use of the Jewel's power."

She shot Inuyasha a significant look, perhaps asking his permission. He stared back at her for a long moment, then shrugged. "Fine by me. The sooner those two assholes leave, the better."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome reprimanded, and he hunched his shoulders, looking defensive.

"Thank you," Ed said, hastily, and her attention swung back to him. "I'd like to go back to 1925, first. Unfinished business, and all that."

Kagome nodded. "I have to return there, as well." She sighed. "I have to tell my other uncles what happened to Uncle Souta."

Inuyasha scowled. "I'm coming with you, Kagome. Just in case Edward fucks up and breaks the well. Again." He gave Ed a challenging stare.

"Fine by me." Ed was too tired to argue. Besides, the hanyou was right. "Maybe you can convince Ikeda to leave the Higurashi family alone."

"Yeah, maybe I can." Inuyasha's scowl vanished, replaced by a fanged grin as he cracked his knuckles.

oo0oo

The journey back to Tokyo through the Bone-eater's Well proved astonishingly easy, much to Ed's surprise. The only difficulty lay in how to fit the bulky stone box that contained the serpent youkai into the well.

Inuyasha, with his superhuman strength, was able to lift the box easily enough, but it was a little too wide to fit easily through the narrow opening at the top of the well-shaft. The annoyed youkai's incessant thrashing didn't help with maneuvering it through a tight fit, either.

Ed frowned, assessing his options. If he thinned the walls of the youkai's stone prison, then the enraged youkai might be able to break free. But maybe if they changed the material composition of the box…

Al apparently came to the same conclusions as Ed, because before Ed could speak, he said: "Why don't we change the stone to metal, Brother? Perhaps use a titanium alloy…?"

His little brother was a genius, thought Ed. Too bad they hadn't thought of this solution earlier…of course, with Inuyasha supplying the muscle to lift the box, and their makeshift automobile to transport it, there hadn't really been a need.

"Yeah," replied Ed. "That'll do the trick." The proper set of symbols to include in the transmutation circle for changing stone to metal sprang immediately to his mind, as they always did.

Kagome loaned them the jewel, and a few minutes later, they were ready to depart.

"You mean you could have done this back in Kasama?" Inuyasha grumbled, hefting the much-slimmer (and much lighter) box, now made of silvery metal.

Baiting this guy is really much too easy. Ed grinned maliciously at him. "What's the matter, Inuyasha-san? I thought you told us that it wasn't too heavy for you."

The hanyou flushed. "Fuck you."

"No, thank you," Ed replied primly. "You're not my type."

Inuyasha growled something under his breath, but Ed noticed that he didn't mention the box's weight again. Yeah, that was too easy.

Then it was time for farewells. Ed had long decided that he certainly wouldn't miss the lack of indoor plumbing or the boring medieval Japanese diet of rice, vegetables, and fish, but he would miss his new friends. In particular, he had enjoyed his talks with Miroku, once he and the monk had ironed out their difficulties.

Both Kohaku and Sango thanked him with low bows, which made Ed extremely uncomfortable, but he was glad to see that someone, at least, had gotten a happy ending out of this whole time-travel misadventure.

Kagome, Al, Inuyasha, and Ed all climbed into the well, and stood carefully around the edges of the chalked transmutation circle still visible at the bottom. Al stood next to Kagome, with Inuyasha on her other side, but he carefully didn't look at her.

It was a little crowded, but the transmutation flared obligingly to life, followed by the sensation of floating through a starry void.

When the ground solidified again under his feet, it had gotten a lot darker. Ed looked up, and saw the wooden ceiling of the well-house high above.

An instant later, Ikeda peeked over the rim of the well. He looked dyspeptic. "What now, Alphonse-kun?" he demanded. "Didn't the girl's trick work?"

"What?" Ed replied. "Of course it worked! We've been gone for over two weeks, maybe three…I've lost track of time."

"You," Ikeda said, obviously startled. "You've been gone for a week, but, just now, Alphonse-kun and Professor Higurashi…" his voice trailed off as his gaze traveled around the bottom of the well. "Where is the Professor? And who's that?"

"Professor Higurashi is…gone," Ed replied, ignoring Ikeda's last question. There'd be enough time to explain Inuyasha's presence once they all got out of this well. But for now, the shadows appeared to be deep enough to hide Inuyasha's distinctive features. "But we've got a dragon for you. Or at least a reasonable imitation of one."

"Reasonable imitation?" Ikeda's face darkened. "You failed?"

The rope ladder was still in place. Figuring this was a conversation easier held if he wasn't shouting up from the bottom of a well, Ed began to climb.

Alphonse and Kagome followed him, leaving Inuyasha still at the bottom of the well, holding the tall metal case that was nearly three times his height.

"We did bring you a dragon," Ed temporized. "Just a smaller one, that's all."

He fought the temptation to roll his eyes in exasperation at Ikeda. Hell, that serpent-youkai even had a spiky frill around its neck. Except for the lack of legs, the youkai looked close enough to paintings of Chinese dragons to pass for one.

Now is not the time to be picky, you officious bastard.

"I specifically ordered you," Ikeda said, through gritted teeth, "to bring back the dragon that escaped."

"Yeah, well, things didn't work out that way," Ed shot back, ignoring Al's cautionary hand on his left shoulder.

"And I warned you, did I not, about the consequences of failure?" Ikeda continued.

"Maybe you should be happy that we brought you something that you actually have some chance of controlling," Ed retorted. "The last one got away, didn't it?"

Al's grip on his shoulder tightened. "Brother," he murmured.

Ed took a calming breath. "Even this one will be difficult to handle. We had a hell of a time catching it and putting it that box."

Ikeda sneered. "I think you're just making excuses for your incompetence."

"If you like, sir," Al said, his voice suddenly deep in a way that made Ed think, Uh-oh, my little brother's lost his temper at last, "We'll open the cage, and you see how well your men can handle this youkai."

Ed couldn't see Al's expression, but he must have looked mighty convincing, because the three policemen accompanying Ikeda began to edge nervously away from their commander.

"Youkai? There's no such--" Ikeda sputtered to a stop, perhaps realizing the absurdity in insisting that youkai were imaginary while admitting the existence of dragons. "You wouldn't dare release such a thing here," he resumed gamely, his face reddening. "Not with a houseful of boys nearby, and what about the neighbors?"

Ikeda smirked, as if proud of his own cleverness.

The smug expression vanished an instant later, coinciding with the heavy double thump of Inuyasha leaping out of the well, and the sound of the youkai's box being set down firmly.

"W-ho are you?" Ikeda breathed, his gaze taking in Inuyasha's antiquated garb. Ed saw his eyes widen as he noticed the ears.

Inuyasha gave the man a grin that showed an awful lot of fang. "I'm the protector of this shrine and this family, asshole."

"An inugami," one of other policemen breathed, reverently. "Forgive us for intruding, kami-sama!" This last was accompanied by a rapid bobbing of deep bows in the hanyou's direction, and a rapid shuffle backwards, towards the well-house's sliding doors.

Ed did his best not to laugh out loud.

"Shut up, and stop that, you superstitious fools!" Ikeda growled at his men, who froze obediently. He turned his attention back to Inuyasha. "Why are you here?"

Inuyasha, still grinning fiercely, drew his sword. The slender blade transformed in a blaze of light. "I'm here to make sure that youkai doesn't hurt any innocents. But you guys--you're on your own." He jerked a thumb in the direction of the metal box. "Now, are you gonna take this fucking snake-in-a-box off my hands, or not?"

Cowed as he was, Ikeda still had guts, Ed had to admit. The man actually managed to look as if he were thinking it over before he nodded with stiff dignity. "I guess it will be acceptable."

"A dragon in the hand being worth two in the past?" whispered Al, ironically, in Ed's ear.

He still hadn't released Ed's shoulder from his grip, and a sideways glance showed Ed why: Al was holding the Shikon-no-Tama in his other hand. Kagome must have handed it to him, in case the two of them needed to use alchemy. Good.

But Ikeda made no more threats as he and his men withdrew from the well-house, staggering and grunting under the weight of the box as they lifted and carried their prize with them.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," Ed heard Kagome say.

There was a tender smile on her face as she gazed up at Inuyasha, and Al's grip on Ed's shoulder tightened painfully.

Sorry, little brother, Ed thought, sympathetically, but he knew better than to open his mouth and actually say something.

From outside, came the coughing roar of an internal-combusion engine starting, then the sound of a vehicle driving away.

Ikeda and his men were gone, and hopefully would not be returning any time soon.

Now it was time for the really difficult conversation.

oo0oo

After she finished speaking, Kagome looked up to see the row of boys' faces staring back at her in shocked silence.

No one said anything. Shiro and Shou, the oldest set of twins, were staring down at their feet. Takeshi had his hand jammed in his trouser pockets, his mouth set in a grim line. Twelve-year-old Kaoru had a tight grasp on his twin brother Yoshi's hand, and Ryuichi, the youngest, was staring at Inuyasha with unabashed fascination and hostility.

Delivering this news had been far, far worse than Kagome had expected, even with the supporting presences of Inuyasha, Edward, and Alphonse in the room with her. Despite her trepidation, she had insisted on being the one to actually speak, since these boys were her relations.

Takeshi finally broke the silence. "So Ikeda-san and…and the others won't be coming back, either?" he asked, hesitantly.

Inuyasha answered. "Don't think so, kid." He let his clawed hand drop casually to Tetsusaiga's hilt, and Takeshi's eyes widened.

"Souta-no-niisan was really killed by the dragon?" asked Shiro.

Kagome nodded. "I'm really sorry," she said, with heartfelt sincerity.

She had hoped, after Souta's body vanished so mysteriously, that she would return to Tokyo to discover that he was all right after all. I remember Great-Uncle Souta as an old man. I remember he spent time teaching at a university in Italy after the war. What happened? Have I changed the past? Can I still go home?

"Do--did you bring Souta-no-niisan's ashes home?" Shou's voice was choked, and his eyes were suspiciously bright. " We--I--should put them in the family grave."

Kagome shook her head. "I'm really sorry," she said again, helplessly. We can't even hold a proper funeral for Uncle Souta!

"Here, kid, take these." Inuyasha reached into the breast of his fire-rat suikan, and extended his hand. Resting on his calloused palm were two pale-green dragon scales. "It's not much of a memorial, but your older brother was a damned brave guy."

Shou made a move to accept them. Then Ryuichi, who had been staring at Inuyasha this entire time, screwed up his face and shouted, "I don't believe you. You killed Nii-san, I know you did, because you're an oni!"

He reached inside his pocket, and darted forward. Before Kagome could react, the little boy had slapped an ofuda against Inuyasha's chest.

Poor Inuyasha! This was so unfair, thought Kagome. "Ryuichi-kun, please don't--" she began.

"You killed him! Admit you killed him, monster!" the boy screamed. He was beginning to cry now, and his tears just seemed to make him angrier. He knuckled at his eyes. "I hate you!"

"Envy--the dragon--killed your brother, not Inuyasha. You've got the wrong guy, kid," Ed tried, but Ryuichi ignored him.

Shiro and Shou both grabbed for Ryuichi's arms before he could launch a second assault upon the startled Inuyasha. "Stop it!"

"Yeah, kid, that dragon killed your brother. He put up a really good fight, though," Inuyasha said, with rare gentleness. "I'm sorry I couldn't save him--it seems he was a much better older brother to you than my older brother is to me, the asshole," he added, under his breath.

"You're lying!" Ryuichi insisted, squirming and struggling against his brothers' restraining hold. But his conviction was beginning to falter.

Inuyasha huffed. "We're all tellin' you the same thing, twerp, and why would we lie to you? The dragon killed Souta and I killed the dragon."

"When I grow up, I'll be an even more powerful priest than Souta-no-niisan. I'll slay all the demons!" yelled the boy.

Kagome winced, and sneaked a sidelong glance at Inuyasha. To her relief, he didn't look angry, just resigned and a little sad. "You do that, kid. When you've grown up a little, maybe you can take me on."

Ryuichi's threats became incoherent as he started to sob in earnest. "I want my brother back!"

"I'm sorry," Kagome whispered to Inuyasha. "I didn't think he'd--"

"Kid's in pain, and wants to blame someone. Better me than you," Inuyasha interrupted, tucking his hands into this sleeves, and doing his best to look impassive in the face of Ryuichi's overwhelming grief.

Some of the other boys were beginning to sniffle now, too..

"You are a truly kind person," Kagome murmured, marveling, as she always did, how his rough, rude exterior hid compassion and loving heart.

His cheeks turned a charming shade of red. "Keh," he scoffed. "At least we know that the kid never did get any real spiritual powers."

Kagome's lips quirked. "Poor Jii-san. I wonder if he remembered you, when you first met in my time."

Shou approached her, and bowed formally. "Thank you for bringing us this news, Kagome-san," he said. Then, looking uncertain, he asked, "What do we do now?"

"Do you have any other relatives who could serve as your legal guardians?" Alphonse asked, looking solemn and subdued.

Kagome smiled at him gratefully, but he was still stubbornly refusing to meet her gaze.

"There's Akio-no-niisan…" Shou answered. "We could send a telegram to the head of his temple in Kyoto."

Ed nodded. "Yeah, let's do that. We'll stay until your brother arrives."

"And I'll make sure those assholes who took the snake youkai don't give you any more trouble," added Inuyasha.

oo0oo

Tokyo, Three Days Later

"Kagome-chan, will you come home to Amestris with me?" Alphonse was wearing the resigned but determined expression of someone who already knew the answer, but felt compelled to ask the question, anyway.

She was in the well-house, once more clad in her own school uniform and loafers, watching Edward painstakingly lay out a new and very complex transmutation circle at the bottom of the well.

Their obligations completed with Akio Higurashi's arrival at the shrine, they had decided it was time to see if the Shikon-no-Tama could open a gate home for the Elric brothers.

At Alphonse's question, Kagome glanced around nervously, but Inuyasha was probably in the house, letting Akio fix him some of the monk's delicious homemade ramen in return for answering an endless stream of questions about youkai.

The young, shaven-headed man had arrived by train from Kyoto yesterday, and had immediately taken charge of the household with quiet authority. "I'm used to dealing with novice monks," he had told Kagome, when she expressed her surprise. "They're not much older than my brothers."

The brothers in question were at school. So, other than Edward, there were no witnesses to the conversation.

There had been no public funeral for Souta, since Akio decided to explain his disappearance on the Tokkou sending him away to fulfill a new assignment. But Akio and his brothers had burned incense for their missing older brother, and had made an offering of rice and sake in front of a photograph of Souta placed near a small altar dedicated to the Higurashi ancestors.

"Um, Al-kun" Kagome began, her heart sinking under the hopeful expression in those hazel eyes. So much for her attempts to avoid this extremely uncomfortable conversation. "I would like to think that we've become good friends during your visit to our world. You're so smart, and nice, and--and--" she stopped, not sure how to continue.

"--and not Inuyasha?" Alphonse finished for her, looking sad. "God, Kagome, how can you be so loyal to him? He's rude, he yells at you all the time, and what about Kik--"

Kagome put her finger against his lips, noting that they were cold and a little chapped.

Alphonse stopped speaking at her touch. She felt him draw breath sharply, and then he stilled.

"Inuyasha is brave, kind, and loyal to his friends," Kagome said, trying to articulate the truth that her heart knew. "And I--I --" love him, "--promised him that I would stay at his side, no matter what."

"You shouldn't come second-best to anyone, Kagome," Alphonse said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"What makes you think I am?" Kagome asked. "I'm not Kikyo, but Inuyasha doesn't want me to be her. She holds a special place in his heart. And…so do I, I think."

Okay, she had never said that last part aloud to anyone before, but she knew it was the truth.

Even if speaking it made her face grow hot. She probably looked red as a tomato now.

"So, this is goodbye?" Alphonse still looked sad, but at least he didn't look surprised.

"I hope with all my heart that you and Edward-san can make it home, and see your friends again," Kagome told him. "You're an important person to me, Al-kun. I'm sorry that I don't have--have those kinds of feelings for you, but you matter to me, you do! I want you and your brother to be happy."

"And now, if you're finished with the sappy conversation," Ed's sarcastic voice floated up from the bottom of the well, "then let's get this show on the road. The transmutation array is finished."

"Yes, Brother," Al said, in tones of exaggerated resignation.

Kagome laughed, and began to step away. Al's hands didn't release her shoulders, though. When she looked up at him in puzzlement, he bent, and she felt the cool brush of his lips against hers.

"You--" she began to protest. Two kisses, and neither of them from--

"You're an important person to me, too, Kagome-chan," Alphonse whispered. "I hope he makes you happy."

"I--I should go fetch Akio-san and Inuyasha," she said, her mouth tingling with guilt and regret, and fled the well-house.

oo0oo

Despite Edward's cautions about the possible dangers of putting his youki in such close proximity with alchemy, Inuyasha insisted on standing next to Kagome as she, Edward, and Alphonse climbed down into the Bone-eater's Well, and arranged themselves at specific points around the edge of the intricate transmutation circle.

"If you fuck up again, and suck Kagome through that Gate of yours," Inuyasha declared. "Then I'm making damned sure that I get sucked through, too."

Ed rolled his eyes. "If that isn't true love, I don't know what is."

Kagome saw Alphonse wince at his brother's words. Inuyasha's hand squeezed hers, then let go.

"Fuck off, asshole," Inuyasha told Edward in a tone that bordered on the maniacally cheerful.

There was a pause as Edward directed them each to stand at specific points of the transmutation circle. Then, he moved slowly to a point equidistant from his brother, Inuyasha, and Kagome, and just stood there for a long moment, staring down at the pattern, and scowling.

"What's wrong, Edward-san?" Kagome paused, looking at his unhappy expression.

He glanced up at her with his golden eyes, then looked away. "I just don't believe that this is really going to work," he muttered. "We've tried so many times--I just don't want to get my hopes up again."

The Shikon-no-Tama gave a warm pulse in Kagome's hand. "I think it will work, Edward-san, Al-kun, if you have faith. And I'm hoping that your wish will free Midoriko from her battle inside this jewel."

"Try not to break the well again," Inuyasha added. "I don't wanna end up stranded here. This place smells worse than Kagome's time."

Ed gave him a crooked smile. "I'll do my best." He took a deep breath and looked at his brother. "Okay, Al, Kagome-chan. Ready...steady...GO!"

At his signal, Kagome knelt, placed her right hand over the symbol that Ed had pointed out to her earlier, and concentrated on channeling the power of the jewel down through the transmutation circle.

"I wish for Edward-san and Alphonse-kun to find their way home," she said, out loud, and felt the jewel respond with a strong, tingling wave of power that flowed up one arm, through her chest, and down her other arm into the pattern on the ground.

Rose-colored light flared up, brightening gradually to gold, then platinum. The center of the array vanished, replacing by a shimmering circle of opalescent light.

Together, Edward and Alphonse stepped forward, waved at her in farewell, and began to sink slowly into that light, as if immersing themselves in a glowing pool of water.

"Goodbye!" called Kagome. "Good luck!"

"And good riddance," muttered Inuyasha, as the brothers vanished.

She continued to feed energy into the circle as long as she could, until the waves of energy passing through her from the jewel had faded to a mere trickle.

Then, she sat back on her heels with a sigh, and watched as the brilliant light faded away, until the transmutation circle had returned once more to merely chalk and earth at the bottom of the well.

Kagome looked at the jewel in her hand. It was nearly clear now, with only the faintest tinge of pink.

Inuyasha's warm breath tickled her neck and ear, making her shiver pleasantly as he leaned forward. "Still not gone? What a persistent bastard."

She turned her head a little to look at him. "I'm a little relieved," she said. "Because I'm not sure I can get home without it."

"Hm," Inuyasha grunted. "Well, let's get rid of this thing," he indicated the transmutation circle with a sweep of his wide red sleeve, "and see if we can get back to your family."

Kagome watched as Inuyasha enthusiastically erased Ed's circle with scuffs of his bare feet, until the chalk-powder patterns had vanished into shapeless gray smudges.

Had Ed's circle worked? Had the jewel really sent the Elric brothers home to their world?

She hoped so. In any case, they were gone, and she would never know.

Kagome touched her lips, thinking of Alphonse, and hoped that he would find someone in his world who returned his feelings.

"You ready to go?"

Kagome blinked, pulled from her thoughts, and found herself staring at the puffy red fabric of Inuyasha's hakama. He extended a clawed hand, and she let him pull her to her feet.

To her surprise, he didn't release her as soon as she was standing. Instead, he looped his arm around her waist, and drew her close.

"I-Inuyasha," she said, in surprise.

"Not gonna risk being separated by the well," he told her, in tones of determination.

"Good," she replied, and boldly put her arm around his waist in return. "I want us to be together forever, Inuyasha."

The familiar feeling of floating through space took over, and Kagome saw the night sky all around them as the time-slip opened and received them. Holding on to each other tightly, they drifted through the void, and came to rest again, gently, on hard-packed earth.

Kagome looked up, and saw the bamboo ladder that Jii-san had left for her. "I think we made it!"

Inuyasha took a deep sniff. "Yeah, smells right to me. And I think your mother is cooking ginger pork. Hope it's not too spicy this time."

As for the Shikon-no-Tama... Kagome looked down at the sphere still clutched in her hand. It was now entirely colorless.

Had she imagined Midoriko's voice just now, just the barest whisper? Thank you, Kagome-chan. I am freed.

A shiver of air, almost as if invisible hands were tenderly touching her hair, and then the jewel disintegrated into a puff of sparkling dust.

It was gone. Fifty years of trouble and sorrow...and now it was over. Kagome wondered what Inuyasha was thinking now, to see the instrument of his greatest troubles just vanish.

Well, they had paid for each and every shard with blood, tears, and sweat, thought Kagome.

"Is everything all right?" she inquired. Noticing that she still had her arm around him, she started to move away.

He didn't let her. She felt his grip tighten, and his leg brushed against her as he bent his knees. Then, they were flying upwards, landing with a thump on the ground just outside the well.

Inuyasha still didn't release her, something that made her glad while it puzzled her, since he wasn't normally very demonstrative. He did shift his grip from her waist to her hand as they left the well-house, and walked, hand-in-hand across the courtyard of the shrine to the gate that led to Kagome's house.

"Tadaima!" she called, as she slid open the front door and slipped out of her shoes.

"Welcome back, Kagome-chan," came Mama's cheerful answer from the kitchen. The smell of cooking food made Kagome's stomach give an embarrassing rumble. "Are you all right? You were only gone for a day this time."

"I'm fine, Mama. And Inuyasha came with me," she replied.

"Oh, good. Welcome back, Inuyasha," Mama's voice floated down the hall. "I have plenty of dinner, and some of those radish pickles that you like so much. Both of you, wash up, and then come to the table...dinner is nearly ready."

"Thank you, Mama!" Kagome took a step in the direction of the washroom, then paused in the hallway, struck by the need to know something.

Inuyasha still didn't want to let go of her hand, so she slid open the closest door and pulled him into the living room after her. It was empty--her younger brother Souta must still be upstairs in his room, doing homework, since the TV was turned off and the video game controller placed under the TV stand.

She crossed the room, looking for the photograph she remembered. There it was, on the bookshelf next to the antique Chinese vase!

I didn't change the past! I didn't mess anything up!

It was an informal portrait of Souta and Akiko as a handsome elderly couple standing in front of the Higurashi Shrine's main building. He looked distinguished with his salt-and-pepper hair, a tweed jacket and reading glasses, and she wore a beautiful peach-and-green kimono, her hair silver and her face lined but still beautiful.

"He didn't die after all!" Kagome said, and impulsively turned to give Inuyasha a hug. "It's going to be okay!"

She wondered how and when Souta would return to his home, and his brothers, but the photograph was proof that he had returned, alive and well, even after those horrible injuries.

Inuyasha returned the embrace with sudden fervor. "I'm glad," he murmured, resting his cheek against her hair.

She felt him bend further down. "And I'm glad you didn't go with him," he whispered, his lips brushing her ear.

Inuyasha was worried? About Alphonse, of all people? Did he know about the kiss?

"I would never leave you," she replied, fiercely, her fingers digging into the scratchy fabric of his fire-rat jacket. "How could you even think it?"

He stared down at her, swallowing convulsively. "I--uh--he...ah, fuck!" he muttered, closing his eyes.

Alphonse had kissed her. And she had never---

I want to stay with you forever, Inuyasha had told her, time and again. Time to find out what that really meant.

Not giving herself the opportunity to chicken out, Kagome rose on her tiptoes, and gave Inuyasha a quick peck on the lips. It was just the barest touch, but she could still feel the line of his mouth against hers as she pulled away, as if she had not stopped kissing him.

He jerked in surprise, his golden eyes wide.

Oh no, did I do the wrong thing? What if he didn't mean--

Then his calloused palms were cradling her cheeks, his fingers brushing her earlobes as they slid into her hair, making a thrilling shiver race down her spine and through the pit of her stomach. Oh. He wasn't mad--he's going to--

"Tadaima," he said, in a choked voice, just before his mouth claimed hers in a lingering kiss that was both gentle and demanding.

Kagome had come home, at last. And so had Inuyasha.

Author's Notes

Wow...finally finished! (Except for the epilogue, which will be posted in a few days, which will reveal the fates of the Elric brothers, Ikeda, and Souta Higurashi.)

This story represents over a year of writing effort--I began it as my 2007 NaNoWriMo project, with the intention of making it a novella-length Christmas gift-fic for my friend Pam, who had requested an FMA/Inuyasha crossover. Then the story grew...and grew...and grew...and turned into a year-long birthday present, instead.

Okay on to the glossary part of my notes:

Inugami: dog-spirit. A minor guardian deity believed to serve or protect specific individuals.

Nii-san: polite term referring to an older brother.

Suikan: a jacket-like outer robe

Oni: in Japanese folklore, wicked or evil humanoid creatures with fangs and claws, variously referred to in English as demons, devils, ogres or trolls.

Ofuda: a paper charm against evil, usually inscribed with a sutra (a verse from Buddhist holy scripture)

Jii-san: polite but informal term for "grandfather"

Tadaima: "I've come home" or "I've returned from a journey"

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who reviewed this story as it was posted, and especially to Ginny, aka kokoronagomu, for beta-reading and her excellent story questions. You saved me from making logic and continuity errors several times, and embarrassing typos a lot of the time!