InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Erase The Past ❯ Foresee The Future ( Chapter 2 )

Foresee The Future

 

 

Kagome stood beside the well, refusing to move. Jumping through time had drained her, and she wasn't sure whether she should move from this spot. She didn't want to leave Inuyasha. She couldn't… not yet.

 

Of course she had left the Shikon shards with him - she had given them to him the other day, to test him and see if that was all he really cared about - whether he would go off in a tangent as soon as he had the jewel. But without question he'd handed them over to Kaede for safe keeping and stayed by Kagome's side. Kagome was thankful. It meant he cared - didn't it?

 

Numb, she sat down on the well - a tear rolling down her cheek. She couldn't move, not yet. She had to absorb all that was present in this well house - for it was the last time she would see it. The last time she would feel Inuyasha's presence.
She clenched her fists at the thought and her heart throbbed painfully inside her chest.

 

She gritted her teeth, trying to forget about the hanyou she had left behind. But she knew from experience that she couldn't forget him. The pain came when she realised that that was all she could do to move on in life - forget. Even though she knew he would never forget about her… Not that he would ever admit it.

 

“Kagome? Kagome, is that you?” Mama Higurashi called from the entrance, looking down into the damp of the well in mild surprise. Kagome didn't raise her head. “…Hai,” she replied - turning away from her mother's gaze. She still couldn't move. It was too much for her to bear…

 

Mama stepped down into the darkness. The well house wasn't a place she normally went to unless Buyo was missing or when she was greeting Kagome when she had returned from the other side. She felt suddenly enlightened in thinking that something so small and so unimportant was actually the most important thing in her daughter's life.

 

Something so dreary and bleak was what provided Kagome with life - with happiness. Because it allowed her to see Inuyasha. And now she would never be able to see him ever again.
Mama Higurashi swallowed thickly, and made her way over to her daughter.

 

She knew, just by looking at her, that the world would never be the same again. Kagome would always be like this - every day would be dark and her daughter would never smile again. She knew it would be that way since she had told Kagome the well was being destroyed, but since her daughter hadn't shown much surprise Mama could only guess that her daughter had disobeyed her and reassembled the letter.

 

At least she knew I didn't lie to her…Mama thought with some comfort. At least she knew I didn't keep it a secret.

 

“May I sit here?” Mama asked, standing next to Kagome with a sad smile on her face. For a moment there was silence, and then Kagome nodded wordlessly. She kept looking down into her lap.
Mama sat down beside her daughter and put a comforting arm around Kagome's shoulders.

 

The only sounds were the rustling of the Go Shinboku's branches in the garden and Kagome's soft breathing. Mama seemed to keep hers in check. Kagome's breaths were slowly turning to gulps of air and Mama turned to see her daughter was crying.

 

Kagome turned towards her mother, trying to hold back the tears that were flowing freely down her face, but she wasn't succeeding. So instead she buried herself in her mother's arms, sobbing.
“Mama, I want Inuyasha! I want to see Inuyasha; I don't want to lose him!” Kagome wept, shaking her head to and fro in denial.

 

Mama Higurashi looked down at her daughter, her own eyes shining with withheld tears. But she had to be strong, for Kagome. She knew now what it was she must do. What any good mother would do. She had to say it - for her daughter. She had to let Kagome know…

 

Mama buried her face in Kagome's hair, drinking in the smell of her daughter. Her arms tightened around her. “Kagome,” she said. “You know you will always be my little girl. Always. My princess,”

 

Kagome continued to cry in her mother's arms, not looking up - but she nodded. Mama smiled sadly above her daughter's head. She looked up at the interior of the well house without really seeing it. Her gaze passed through it, until she could see what lay in store. The future.

 

“I want what's best for you, darling. And that is what you have to decide…”

Kagome jerked in her mother's arms, clenching her fists and pulling herself upright. Tears were highlighting her cheeks, her eyes shining a brilliant chestnut. “I don't know what you mean, Mama!” she cried. “I don't understand… I'm- afraid, Mama.” Kagome replied, hesitantly.

 

Mama nodded. She reached out for her daughter once more, and Kagome fell in her arms again. Mama sighed.

She rocked her daughter back and forth like she had done when she was a child. Her face seemed to be serene, and she was surprised how calm she was being about the whole situation. Kagome's face, however, was pink with tears.

 

Would she give up everything? Mama wondered, briefly.
She looked down at Kagome in her arms.
And am I ready to let her go?

“Kagome,” Mama raised her eyes to look back at the wall of the well house. Her heart was thumping painfully, her blood roaring in her ears. She knew the silence wouldn't last, but until it was broken she felt completely alone.

 

Finally, she sighed. “Kagome, I want you to answer me truthfully. Are… Are you in love with Inuyasha?” she asked, delicately.
Kagome sniffed and raised her head, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

 

Her eyes locked with her mother's. She nodded once - yes. Mama made a muffled sound, but cut off the gasp before it escaped. She didn't even know why she was so surprised. She guessed that she was just happy for her daughter to have found someone to love…

 

She pulled her daughter into another embrace, but this time with a genuine smile across her face. Now the tears began to emerge in the corners of her eyes.
“Then, sweet heart, why are you sat here talking to me? Shouldn't you be with him?” she said softly, nudging her daughter. This caused Kagome to let out another wail and clutch onto Mama tighter.

 

“No, no, no, no - we decided to split early. To give us time to prepare for the- you know…” Kagome trailed off, trying to wipe her eyes again. Her mother caught her hand before she could. She smiled down at her daughter.

 

Are you ready to let her go???

 

Are you ready to let her go???

 

Are you ready to let her go???

 

Yes. Yes, I am.

 

“I didn't mean that. Kagome - I meant it's your decision. Where do you belong? Here, or back on the other side - with him?” she asked softly, gently rubbing her daughter's shoulders.

 

Kagome opened her mouth to speak. A gurgled sound came out and she clamped her lips shut - turning away. “Mama… my future is here,” Kagome whispered helplessly, bowing her head.
Mama Higurashi held her daughter from behind, trying to strike a chord somewhere inside of her daughter. “I'm not trying to push you away, Kagome. I want what's best for you. And I know that Inuyasha will always take care of you. I can see your future, Kagome… And it's not here,” she told her, sadly yet reassuringly.

 

“I knew this moment would come the day I found out you were travelling between the two times with Inuyasha. And I'd already come to accept that one day you would marry and grow apart from our family, making your own. Well, I'd rather you'd be safe and happy with the one you love, than forced to grow up in a world without him.”

 

Kagome's eyes widened. She froze in place, blinking furiously with her hand poised to wipe her tears away yet again. I'd rather you'd be safe and happy with the one you love…

 

“M-Mama?” Kagome whispered.
“Hai?”
“I'm… scared,” Kagome told her, truthfully - the tears slowly ceasing. Mama Higurashi nodded in understanding and helped her daughter up, turning her around to stare at her critically.

 

Kagome looked back up, sheepishly.
Mama smiled.
“Come on,” she grimaced, playfully punching her daughter's arm. “Let's get you sorted out,”

 

***

 

Inuyasha sat beside the well, his gaze unblinking. He didn't know how long it had been since Kagome had left him - but she still had left him. Just like everyone else before her. His mother had left him, his own brother had abandoned him and Kikyo had left him too.

 

He hadn't ever thought Kagome would follow suit. He didn't feel any anger or hatred as he had with Sesshoumaru and Kikyo's desertion. He felt alone, unloved and unwanted as he had when he'd watched his mother die.

 

The emptiness was eating away at him. It was worse to have lost Kagome than it had been when he'd lost his mother. He'd been young then and he had loved his mother because she was the only family he had.
He loved Kagome because of who she was, not how she was connected to him. And he wasn't so young anymore. This pain wouldn't die away as it had the first time.

 

He… had no future now. He couldn't move on, he knew that in his heart. He could try and keep up his badass façade, but it wouldn't wash anymore - he knew that. There was sadness in his eyes and he was only a shade of what he had been before.

 

He bowed his head, numb.

 

“Inuyasha?” a familiar voice called from the forest around him. Inuyasha didn't reply to Miroku's call. After all, Inuyasha didn't want any company. He just wanted to be alone - to freeze over and trap all the good times he and Kagome had shared. To live as solid as the ice surrounding his heart.

 

He was turning cold, he could feel it inside. And only Kagome could save him from himself.

 

***

 

Kagome looked around at her family and was overwhelmed by all the feelings that engulfed her. Love, gratitude and shock at how kind her family were being - ushering her towards the well while carrying her things.

 

The tears were still falling, even now. It hadn't taken long to grab all of the things she would need and would miss. Now Kagome's belongings were being carried in the Higurashi family's arms. The destruction crew would be arriving shortly, and they needed to hurry.

 

Kagome watched as her family dropped carrier bags down into the well, ready for Kagome to jump down and carry them with her to the other side. Sota was crying silently and Grandpa was grumbling about giving his granddaughter away to a demon.

 

Kagome held back a laugh and turned to her family, who had finished lowering her stuff. Sota tugged on her skirt, his dark head rising. Kagome bent down so she was at his level and he leant forward and kissed her on the cheek, shyly.
“Be safe, sis,” he whispered, stepping back.

 

Kagome's face flushed and she held out a hand in her brother's direction, uncertain of what to say or do. Instead, she stood up again and replied meekly, “You too,”
Grandpa shuffled forward, with an angry face. “If that demon does anything improper to you, my girl, I shall-”

 

“Bye, Grandpa,” Kagome cut him off, giggling. She pulled the old man into a sharp hug, smiling. Then, as she pulled away she pointed a finger at him. “Don't go boring Sota with prophecies and such while I'm gone, okay?”

 

Grandpa snorted and turned away, leaving Mama to step forward. Mama smiled at her daughter bravely, making her way over and pulling her daughter into a fierce hug. She whispered into Kagome's ear, lowering her head to hide her tears. “My little girl forever,” she told her.

 

Kagome choked back another round of tears and nodded at her mother before pulling apart. She looked back at the well and sighed. Then, sending a fleeting glance in the direction of her family, she smiled. “For my future,” she whispered in some form of speech.

 

Sota, who was grabbing hold of Mama's side, looked up and grinned. “For Inuyasha,”
Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, teasingly.

 

Mama was the one to start the parade of choruses. “Higurashi Kagome, banzai!” she cried, grinning brilliantly as she did so. Grandpa and Sota joined in too, waving Kagome off as she jumped in the well with barely suppressed tears.

 

Kagome braced herself against the world preparing to meet her. She sucked in a deep breath.

 

For my future…

 

For Inuyasha… she thought.

 

***

 

Inuyasha looked heavenward. He knew by the position the sun was in the sky that the well on Kagome's side was going to be destroyed soon. Will time be parallel? He wondered. Will it be destroyed here, too?

 

Inside there was still the emptiness. Inside he was a child crying for the girl he had loved and lost, but outside he didn't let it show. Instead he was a ghost, who looked as if he had seen the whole world and was tired of it. Inuyasha wondered whether he should move from this spot - he knew he was torturing himself.

 

But he couldn't bear it. He had to hold on to what memories he had of Kagome while he could. This way he felt close to her, as if she were there - sharing them and reliving their time together over and over. This was where they were connected. And this was where their connection would be severed.

 

Inuyasha bowed his head and a single tear carved a path down his cheek, tracing an imaginary scar. He didn't know whether he could fall asleep. He wanted to, part of him wanted to shut down and ignore what was going on. But if he fell asleep would ever wake up again? Inuyasha didn't know. But secretly, he wanted to try.

 

Inuyasha shut his eyes, counting down the time until the well would be destroyed. He didn't know exactly when it would happen, but he thought he would feel some kind of severed link - as if someone's grip had slackened on a rope. A rope of destiny tying he and Kagome together.

 

“Inuyasha,”
Inuyasha felt a different kind of jolt. That voice… it was familiar. But it couldn't be Kagome's voice… could it? Surely he would've heard her, smelt her - sensed her before. Had he been too wrapped up in his own thoughts?

 

He slowly turned, keeping the blank expression on his face - not daring to hope. But there, leaning out of the well and smiling down at him with a serene expression on her face… was Kagome - looking like a triumphant angel. Beautiful. She was so beautiful…

 

Inuyasha's breath caught in his throat. He was choking on the air he breathed. “K-K-Kagome…? What are you doing back here, I-”
Kagome didn't answer him. She climbed out of the well and looked silently down at her belongings with a wrinkled expression.

 

Inuyasha stood up and looked down into the well, too - only to see all of Kagome's things. He blinked twice and then stared up at Kagome in fascination. “What are you-?” he began, but Kagome was giggling.

 

She tossed her hair and turned to look at him, her eyes shining brilliantly. “I know where my future lies, Inuyasha. In the past. With you,” she grinned.
Inuyasha opened his mouth, simply staring. And then Kagome was in his arms and they were falling to the floor, laughing and crying and kissing as if there were no tomorrow.

 

There was a cord thrumming between them - connecting them through the five-hundred years between them. They were meant to be together. After all, it was destiny.

 

Inuyasha's hand locked with Kagome's. He smiled against her lips, finally letting his own tears flow willingly for the first time.

 

No, Kagome hadn't deserted him. And she wasn't going to. Ever.