InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Devastating Choice ❯ Our Conclusion ( Chapter 1 )

Whoa, I jus had a premonition of what the end of the Inuyasha series might be. (Background music and all!) I have always avoided this matter with a passion because I believed I had no right speculating about something that will inevitably be revealed to us, but this…this dream just tugged at my heart. So I shall write it out for you and I hope you find it as startling as I did when I jerked awake.

 

I cried when I wrote it, but while I was reading it over it didn't impact me like it did before. Did I just get used to it or did it sound sadder in my mind?

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

It was the end.

 

The land still held the scars, the craters where a kongonsuah shard had struck into the charred earth, the heavy smell of blood that soaked into the soil, tainting it with the poison of death. Rotting pieces of flesh still clung to moist yellow bones that had yet to be bleached dry in the sun. The smell of death and decay enveloped everything as the village men worked to clear away the remnants of Naraku's army, following Miroku and Sango's instructions. It may take many years for the land to heal from this battle, but there was no doubt that it would…just like every battle waged in the Sengoku Jidai.

 

Kagome reached a hand out to trace along the shredded bark of a blood spattered tree. No doubt in her mind at all… this land would heal.

 

The very tree she caressed with her hand may be a tree that lived for years enjoying the sun before having its trunk hacked away and its roots wrenched from the ground to make a building or just to clear the land for farms. This land, this tainted, battle weary land, would all be paved over for streets and houses in a century or two. This one battle, no matter how fierce or important it was for them, would not be recorded in any history books, would not be remembered forever in the hearts of the villagers as a victory over evil, they may not even become local legends that the elderly pass along to their wide-eyed grandchildren. They would be forgotten by the people, but the land would remember.

 

The land would heal like it did from every battle; the people would go on like they always did. Life was as it was meat to be.

 

It was the end.

 

Naraku was defeated, how or why didn't matter, she preferred not going into the details of the fight. That was better left to the four smiling demons forever boasting to the travelers. Shippo, Hachi, Ginta and Hakaku were there now, by the hut they always sat in, telling the story of the battle to everyone who stopped to listen. Their over exaggerated tale got just a bit farther from the truth every time, but the others left them to their telling. Who were they to say if there were a hundred demons attacking or a hundred thousand?

 

Less and less youkai appeared these days. Sesshoumaru had curtly elucidated that Naraku had left too big a scar on the hearts of humans, and the thought that such a small party of worthless rejects, excluding himself and Kouga of course, could defeat a powerful creature such as him was terrifying even to the fiercest combatant.

 

With that miniscule explanation he left, walking back towards the trees, his milky hair playing softly around him as a breeze rushed through the clearing, as though the very wind wished to follow after him. Jaken walked beside his lord with Rin riding atop Ah Un, waving goodbye. Kagome hadn't thought Jaken would ever wave goodbye to them like a dear friends going on a trip, but there he was waving his staff with a smile on his face. Rin must have rubbed of on him, despite whatever the imp claimed, and Sesshoumaru didn't reprimand either, but rather left them to their farewells.

 

Miroku and Sango later put their heads together to come to the conclusion that if a small party of humans and demons could destroy Naraku and his army of demons than there was nothing stopping other humans from attacking demons, even those who did nothing wrong. So the demons were taking shelter somewhere.

 

Kagome sighed. That would explain why there were no youkai in her time that could be easily discernable. Ah, but there were! And she new all to well the damage they could cause. In her time…was it all for the Shikon no Tama or were they coming out of hiding?

 

She shook her head, now was not the time to worry about that. She should be enjoying her free time with Inuyasha and the others. She would have to go back to school soon to make up for all the days she was absent, a thought she dreaded but it was necessary.

 

Sighing one last time she turned away from the dismal scene to travel the now familiar path through the forest to the Goshinboku. Bright green grass shone like gems in the sun while darkening to a deeper emerald in the shade of the trees. Here, only a few yards away from the battle scene, all was as it should be. Nothing ever seamed to disturb this land. Even in her time, when everything else was torn down and paved, this land surrounding the Goshinboku and the Well, it remained untouched, holy. The land her house was built on and the shrine, even though the trees were now gone and the forest was no more… the land still held this same life within it.

 

Up ahead by the sacred tree she could make out the two figures she new would be here.

 

Inuyasha sat cradled in the outcropping roots, the tree whose life he had shared for fifty years now always welcomed him with comfort and the promise of a quiet nap in the cool shade of the forest. Beside him, leaning up against the tree was his now ever present companion Kikyou.

 

Kikyou and Inuyasha would often both come here to talk, away from the others prying ears. Away from her, she felt. Yet they needed these talks, to get everything out and to come to terms with everything they had been through together. Now that Naraku was truly and utterly gone they had the time, and the will, to talk. There was no more malice between them, no more lasting hatred or sense of betrayal, they seemed completely at peace and comfortable in each others presence now, as much as that pained her. She was happy for them.

 

Almost as though they were connected both pairs of eyes opened and their heads turned to her. She stopped, feeling as though she should apologize for intruding on their tranquility with her mixed emotions. It was silly; she was just as welcome to come to the tree as they were. It held memories too…of all the times she and Inuyasha would sit there, relaxed, and talk as if no strong emotional attachments held back their words. It was the place she had first met Inuyasha. She didn't think she could ever walk by this tree again and not feel some deep connection to it, far deeper than what she felt as a child.

 

Inuyasha smiled that sad, lazy smile of his, the smile he plastered on his face when he had just made some tough, heartbreaking, concrete decision. The smile that was somehow supposed to comfort but for some odd reason never did.

 

“We…Kikyou and I” He shifted his arms in the sleeves of his haori, “…we've been talking a lot about where we go from here and we…we've made a decision.” He said, bowing his head slightly.

 

“Your going to leave, aren't you?” Kagome asked. She had expected as much. He had promised Kikyou, after all, that when everything was over he would follow her in death. Still, the thought sent a sharp pain through her chest, one that she had become more and more familiar with during her journey in this era.

 

“I've been telling myself for a while now that I shouldn't expect anything else, you two belong together. It was only because of Naraku that you felt such bitterness towards each other, only because of that one incident that you…you couldn't have the life you both planned.”

 

“Kagom-” Kikyou placed a hand on his shoulder, indicating he should remain silent.”

 

“I know it's a bit selfish,” She continued, her head down, thick ebony bangs hiding her watery eyes, “and that I should smile and say I'm happy, but it just hurts so much. I've smiled so many times, told you so many times that I don't care, that you should go, that you two should be together…that its what is best…but, I do care. Inuyasha…I-I want to be with you. I've known this for so long, I want to remain by your side forever and never part with you. I want you to live…with me.”

 

She clenched her fists at her sides. “But I want you to be happy as well, and if dieing with Kikyou is what you want than yes, I'm happy for you, and I'm sorry I can't send you off with a smile, because it hurts me when I do that more than it does watching you leave.” She gasped, a harsh choking sob erupting from her throat. “I'm sorry, I wish you the best but I…I just…I can't…”

 

“Kagome,” this time it was Kikyou who interrupted. “You are not the only one who has felt this heartache.” She spoke softly, gazing at the young girl who looked so much like herself when she was but fifteen summers. “I too have hurt, watching you from afar, envying you, and loathing you for the affection Inuyasha bestowed upon you, affection that was so rightfully mine.”

 

Kagome looked at her, tears streaming down her face. “I…I-”

 

“I wished to kill you,” she continued, “to eradicate you from this world. I would take Inuyasha with me into death where we could be together for all time without your meddling, without his feelings for you.”

 

Inuyasha blushed, bowing his head between his shoulders and averting his gaze, though Kagome's complete attention was on Kikyou.

 

“I felt a betrayal far worse than that which Naraku had deceived us with; Inuyasha had fallen in love with someone other than me. You, Kagome had stolen the affection I had tried so hard to earn. It had taken me so long to gain his trust; I even rejected the idea of binding him to me. I wanted him freely mine, not collared like a dog.” Kagome flinched at that. “Yet so quickly you earned his trust. So soon he revealed his weaknesses to you, and relied on your strength.

 

“I wished to change him; I thought it would be easier that way.” She leaned back up against the tree, her face becoming wistful as she stared up at the branches, small glittering dots of light shining through the leaves, but never quite making it to the ground. “I wanted to be normal myself you see. I wanted to be like everyone else, to live happily with the one I love. It was not such a hard decision for me; but for Inuyasha, after having been hurt so many times, after being abused by humans and youkai alike, he could not make the change so suddenly.”

 

She turned her gaze to Inuyasha a moment. Her eyes seeing him as he was, the harsh hanyou with cruel yet kind eyes, the man who Kagome had only glimpsed in their first days together. “I honestly didn't think he would agree,” she continued, closing her eyes as the familiar memory flooded her mind. “Then that day, when he said he would become human for me, I could not measure the happiness that filled me. I did not want to think that he might be happier as he was, I did not accept anything but what I wanted, to be normal, and live normally, as a human, with a human, in a human village. With no demons attacking or jewel to protect, I wanted to be ordinary.”

 

Inuyasha had turned almost as crimson as his haori. This conversation had passed between them countless times these past few days, yet the fact that Kagome was hearing it was a bit uneasy. He was gad they were ignoring him. This was one conversation he would rather not be included in.

 

“Seeing you with him, traveling with him and feeling no hatred or disgust for his mixed blood, loving him the way he was and not caring about how other would view the two of you. I kept thinking, if I had just one more chance I wouldn't ask him that. I would work with him as he was, protect the jewel and care for him at the same time. I would love him for him, not what I wanted him to be; but of course I never got that second chance. You were always there, in my place, tending his wounds, cheering him, placing yourself in danger for his sake even when you were uncertain of the outcome. All things I didn't have the chance to do would never have the chance to do.”

 

Opening her eyes again she stared straight at the girl. “Like you, I accepted that he would choose you over me, and it hurt. I tried to push him away, leave him alone, betray him, do everything I could to keep myself from feeling this pain. Nothing worked, and I felt emptier than ever. Soon I just accepted that it was what was meant to be, and I went on, hiding my sorrow and heartbreak from all. Only Naraku ever knew, those times when he looked into my heart, he knew of that and used it against me.”

 

Inuyasha nodded, “Naraku knew things about all of us. Things we didn't even know about ourselves.” he said, finally inserting himself into the conversation, bringing Kikyou's tale back onto the track it was meant to be on. Kagome and Kikyou looked at him a moment and he blushed slightly under their gaze.

 

“I decided that when the time came” She continued turning from Inuyasha back to Kagome…I wouldn't take Inuyasha with me to the grave.”

 

“Wha-!”

 

“Inuyasha deserves a chance at life, a chance to live with the person he loves, to live as he is, as he should.” She stepped away from the tree, walking slowly towards the speechless schoolgirl. With a final thrust of her foot she fell upon the girl, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, pulling the startled Kagome to her. “He deserves a life with you.” She whispered to her, a small smile spreading across her lips.

 

This close to the young miko she could feel the pulse of their shared soul, could experience the heartache and happiness, the love shared by both of them for this one man. She felt more alive in this one moment, more like her old self that died so long ago, than she had in all the time she had been back. She had said she preferred this body, she felt so liberated, so free. She had believed that in this body she would be able to love Inuyasha for who he was, she could never be ordinary, she accepted that. But she was wrong. She missed this feeling, this emotion. She missed being alive.

 

Pulling back she stared straight into Kagome's glistening blue eyes, she missed being able to cry as well, to release this ache in her heart as a stream of salty tears. To feel refreshed and content after a good cry, but she would never again feel the warm liquid flow from her eyes, she should accept that, like she did everything else. “Inuyasha disagrees with me,” She began again. “He doesn't want me to die alone again, but he also wants to stay here with you.” She whispered, knowing that the information reached Inuyasha's ears unbroken. “He wants to stay with you too.”

 

Kagome inhaled sharply, feeling her gaze traveling to the startled, blushing Inuyasha. She didn't look away from Kikyou, however. She was afraid, afraid that if she looked at the hanyou…something might happen. What, she wasn't sure but something would most definitely happen.

 

“We have discussed for the past few days on what action to take,” Kikyou went on. “But you have your own choice Kagome.” She gripped the girl's shoulders tighter; making sure the girl was completely focused on what she was going to say. “Things can't go on like this Kagome.” Inuyasha's ears pricked up. This was obviously something he hadn't planned on hearing.

 

“Eh?” She didn't understand. Go on like what?!

 

“The jewel is gone, purified. It no longer exists to allow access to either of our two worlds, to tighten the not that ties this era, and your own time together. The well will let you pass, because you do not belong here it will allow you to return to your world, but you will not be able to ever come back.”

 

The words shot through their brains lick lightning. Never come back?!

 

“You mean if I leave, I can never come back to visit Miroku and Sango, or Shippo…or Inuyasha?” She asked softly. Kikyou shook her head. “But…But why?! Why can't I come back?”

 

“Everything must be set back, time must be cleansed. These people will never remember you, or Naraku. Already what has happened is changing your future. You can't tell now because you spend so little time there, but everything here affects there.”

 

Kagome remembered the last time her world was affected by what happened here, when her home was cast into an eternal winter. Kikyou had sent her back, and the well had refused to let her back in. She had used the arrow to get back…the very same arrowhead that Kikyou had pierced Inuyasha with. She wondered if Kikyou had expected that, or if it was just another attempt to get rid of her.

 

“How…How do you expect me to be here if I can never return?!” She cried.

 

“That is why you must choose. You can stay here Kagome.” Kikyou backed away, letting her hands fall to her sides. “You can stay here and live with Inuyasha and the others, but then you can never return to your own time, for if you do you won't be able to come back.”

 

“I…I…tsuh” Kagome wobbled slightly without Kikyou's support, she felt like she was going to collapse. Never return?! How could she choose? `Mom, Grandpa, Souta…all my friends. I can never see them again?! And if I leave…I'll loose Inuyasha. I…I can't decide!

 

“Go.”

 

Both women turned to Inuyasha. “What?” Kikyou asked.

 

“You have your family there, and your friends, and that school you care so much about.” he said softly. “I won't ask you to stay Kagome. I know how much all that means to you.”

 

“But…but I want to stay with you too Inuyasha.” She said, walking over to him. “I said I want to stay with you and I do.” Her voice broke into a whisper. “I do…”

 

“It's your choice Kagome.” Kikyou said, turning away she gave Inuyasha a small sad smile and began walking off into the forest somewhere, her soul collectors shimmering slightly beside her before dispersing into various directions. She didn't need their help anymore. She had set them free. Kagome and Inuyasha both knew they would never see her again. Inuyasha gazed after her a long while and it seamed like he was restraining himself. He wanted to go after her, wanted to stop her, but he wouldn't.

 

Kagome tried to feel bitter, she just dumped this on her and left, not even waiting to see what the outcome would be, but… she couldn't be angry Kikyou anymore. She had just given up Inuyasha, how could Kagome hate her? Besides, she wouldn't have wanted to stay either. There was no happy outcome to this. Either choice made her loose something dear.

 

She looked up at Inuyasha, his eyes fogged over, his expression that of a one with a broken heart. Just like the choice between the two of them, her or Kikyou. She understood now. He couldn't choose, it was too painful. But at least he had the two of them around; he had the time to choose. The chance to say goodbye, but the only person she could say goodbye to was on this side of the well. If she left to say goodbye to her family, she could never return.

 

Maybe…maybe Inuyasha was right…maybe she should leave. Maybe…maybe this was what was supposed to happen, but then…Inuyasha would have lost both of them. Kikyou would be gone by then, and she would be leaving. He would have no one.

 

It was all her choice. All hers…

 

She really needed to lie down for a while.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~

 

And she faints!!

 

Actually…. I don't know. I woke up. Sure they are probably WAY out of character, but this was how my dream went…to an extent. For some reason in my dream Kagome's family was there as well and they were floating in some dark space instead of at the tree and there was like this fork in the road and all she had to do was choose a path, there were kind of like big screen TVs (the best explanation I have) that showed each world and all she had to do was cross over and she was there. But I found that a bit hard to explain (damn confusing dreams!)

 

I love Kikyou here, she's just soooo devious! She just wanted Inuyasha to get embarrassed, I swear!

She's all:

“Heh, heh. He wants to stay with you too.” *smiles evilly at Inuyasha*

 

 

My favorite of the dialogue from my dream is this:

 

Mom: “Go on Kagome, we'll take care of everything.” *smiles sweetly but is still crying*

 

“Oh mom…”

 

Grandpa: “Yes we'll take care of explaining things. Oh, I could say you passed from a disease! Now what should I-”

 

Souta: *interrupts* (thank the darkness because I really don't want to go researching some disease my brain just randomly popped out) “I can tell all Kagome's friends that Inuyasha was so heartbroken he jumped of a building or something! That would be so cool!”

 

Inuyasha: *stupefied*

 

Kagome: “Just kill us off why don't ya?!”

 

I laugh at that now…. Mueh mua muahahahahahaahaha! *falls out of chair as maniacal laughter continues*

 

*sigh* I have both sides of the story planned out, if she chooses Inuyasha or her family, but I don't know what to do!!!! Damn that Kagome, making me wake up and having me have to choose. You know what! That's not fair. Come on peoples help me out here, one gal can't do it on her own!

 

Just vote in a comment or email for which one you want, if you want a lovey-dovey *heart* ending with Inuyasha, or a sad tearful ending with her family and friends. Or do you have your own idea? Well, tell me! I need some help; my subconscious mind is tormenting me! *cry*